By Greg Hardesty, contributing writer
Jeannie G. Kim turns to the whiteboard in her office at Santiago Canyon College.
On it are columns of color-coded goals she wrote down as she approaches the completion of her first year as president of the community college in Orange.
“It’s a little ambitious,” Kim says with a laugh. “When I showed my plan to members of my executive staff, it took their breath away.”
But Kim, the college’s seventh president and the first Asian American in the role, is determined to get SCC, currently ranked No. 7 out of the state’s 116 community colleges by BestColleges.com, to No. 1 in a few years.
“It’s a transformative plan,” she says, “but I want us to be No. 1. And these goals will help get us there.”
Don’t bet against her.
With 34-plus years in administrative roles in higher education, Kim has a track record of success.
And she has the DNA to do her best whatever the task, as well as a desire to give back to the educational system that has served her and her large extended immigrant family well.
“I know what higher education can do,” says Kim, who was 5 years old when she immigrated with her father and two younger brothers to Southern California, joining her mother who arrived two years earlier on an immigrant visa to work as a nurse when the country had a shortage of them.
“I know the power of higher education,” says Kim. “I experienced it myself, and so did my family. I’ve seen it work again and again and again.”
Community service
Kim started at SCC on Jan. 18, 2023 – her first stint as president of a community college.
She came from the Riverside Community College District, where she served as the interim vice chancellor of educational services and strategic planning and associate vice chancellor of grants and economic development.
Before that, she held administrative positions at Occidental College, UCLA, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Fullerton and Riverside City College.
It…
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