September 9, 2026
Dear SRJC Community,
I am pleased to share the District updates provided to the Board of Trustees at the September meeting. You will receive these updates from me after each monthly Board of Trustees meeting to share more about the excellent programs, services, initiatives, events, and work we undertake to support SRJC students. You can read the full President’s Report online each month.
President’s Report
At the start of the fall semester, over 21,500 students were enrolled in SRJC courses for certificates, degrees, transfer, and lifelong learning. Classified professionals, faculty, and administrators participated in Professional Development Activities Day as part of our work preparing for the start of the fall semester. Music faculty member, Darita Seth, was recognized as the Multicultural Educator of the Year and gifted us all with his vocals while playing the piano. He shared his family's journey immigrating to the United States and how music helps tell the stories of our lives and experiences. My plenary session was focused on supporting student access, success, and completion by intentionally creating a college community of belonging. I invited colleagues to capture a photo in a moment where they felt seen, heard, or valued, as part of my reflections on the song "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos." It's a song that reminds me to enjoy the present, honor the past, and recognize that building community supports our future.
I have shared several messages about the progress and updates on implementing the new Banner system, known as Bear Cub Hub. We are working with Ellucian experts to continue resolving systemic barriers and ensure students have a smoother Spring registration experience.
We had an onsite visit with our accreditation liaison, VP Kristin Charles, from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) on August 26th. This training session included me, the tri-chairs of the Accreditation Oversight Committee, Vice Presidents, the Executive Officer in the Office of the President, and the Executive Director of the Foundation and External Relations. I look forward to supporting the board and the college in ensuring the integrity of the process and telling our story as part of our Institutional Self-Evaluation Review (ISER). We begin this year's work to successfully complete, approve, and submit our ISER in preparation for our Spring 2029 site visit.
Finally, we continue to make progress on closing the year-to-date headcount gap between fall 2025 and fall 2026. We ended August 5.3% down in year-to-date headcount. I want to thank our staff, faculty, and administrators for all their support in helping students enroll this fall.
College and Community Engagement
| Engagement Area | Update | Impact |
| COMMUNITY AND CIVIC PARTNERSHIPS | Ask Us Anything Town with Congressmen Huffman & Thompson Sonoma County Fair Directors Patio Lunch | Town hall at the SRJC Petaluma Campus supporting civic engagement and connections with the community. Community support and engagement with SRJC students. |
| EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS | 10,000 Degrees Mixer | Strengthening collaboration with 10,000 Degrees, who are co-located on the Santa Rosa and Petaluma Campuses. |
| WORKFORCE AND REGIONAL COLLABORATION | Informing the Bay Area Community College Consortium (BACCC) Strong Workforce Program regional projects. | Responsiveness to collaboration across the Bay Area Region of colleges to support joint ventures that lead to living wage employment. |
| LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY ENGAGEMENT | Support and advocacy for U.S. Senator Schiff's Food for Thought Act | Federal legislation that would create a new program within the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to provide grants to community colleges and Minority Serving Institutions’ food pantry and hot meal programs for low-income students. |
Strategic Plan Highlight
At PDA, SRJC unveiled SRJC’s new Career & Academic Pathways (CAPs). The six pathways group programs into student-friendly areas designed to help students connect their interests with majors, careers, and next steps. CAPs are intended to make college options easier to understand, improve the student experience, and support more meaningful educational and career planning. These are SRJC’s Career & Academic Pathways, designed to help students see where their education can take them. Developing CAPs supports Strategic Action Steps for Academic Quality.
Celebrations, Recognition, and Institutional Pride
Santa Rosa Campus Welcome Day welcomed more than 800 students and their families, providing opportunities to connect with campus resources, departments, programs, and staff. Petaluma Campus Welcome Day served more than 160 students and parents, with opportunities to connect with Student Success Teams, faculty, and career exploration resources.
STEAM Cluster - The HOPE, MESA, and Avanzando programs continued their efforts in supporting students during the summer, with an eye toward fall. MESA and Avanzando helped the second cohort of SRJC Bridge students complete critical coursework and workshops focused on transfer-level English and Math. In SRJC Bridge, students completed either STAT or ENGL C1000, or a pre-calculus preparation workshop. This was paired with supportive activities, including informative sessions, a resource fair featuring campus clubs and student support programs, and access to instructional aides who provided tutorial support. Students received lunch daily, all required textbooks, and information about scholarship opportunities. Furthermore, the HOPE Program laid the groundwork to implement the Health Sciences Pre-requisites Lending Library, providing students free access to high-cost pre-allied health textbooks, calculators, and other academic supplies to reduce financial barriers for students starting in Fall.
Management Team Evaluations: Human Resources has rolled out the electronic evaluation process for Management Team employees through NEOED Perform. The new process is intended to streamline completion, improve consistency and documentation, and provide a more accessible and efficient evaluation experience for both employees and supervisors.
Custodial Services: A special thank you to our Custodial Services team for the tremendous effort and teamwork demonstrated throughout the summer. Through the combined work of custodial technicians and coordinators, the team completed about 90 percent of the annual campus custodial project work while continuing to meet the College's day-to-day needs. Their work included floor care, carpet and upholstery cleaning, detailed cleaning, campus readiness, and numerous other projects across multiple buildings. This accomplishment reflects significant coordination, flexibility, and teamwork, and helped ensure our campuses were ready to welcome students and employees for the new semester.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness Research and Planning has updated our public data dashboard. The “At A Glance” dashboard provides student demographics by campus location and trustee area. Data include Summer 2025, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026. Additionally, the Trustee Report Card dashboard is updated with initial data for 2025-26.
Written Updates
Each month, the Board of Trustees receives written updates on various programs and departments. Below are the reports from September.
In closing, I invite all community members to the President's Address on September 30, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. for the reception and 3:30–5:00 p.m. for the address in Luther Burbank Auditorium. This annual event gives me an opportunity to share the great work happening at SRJC. I enjoy highlighting how SRJC is THIS community's college and the intention with which we serve, educate students, and provide an affordable pathway to higher education. I look forward to seeing our community come together in support of SRJC's legacy and commitment to academic excellence.
In Community,
Dr. Garcia
