From Acting President Espinosa-Pieb
Looking Forward
March 8, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
I’ve been speaking with many of you in recent days, and to those I haven’t yet seen in person, I want to say that I'm deeply honored to be asked to serve as acting president of De Anza College.
As I said during Chancellor Lambert's town hall meeting last Friday, I will happily serve in the temporary role for as long as he would like me to do so. While I had been planning to retire, I love De Anza, and I want to help provide stability for our college during the transition to a new president. I will not apply for the permanent position.
Many of you will remember what we were able to accomplish – collectively – when I was interim president during a previous period of transition. Working together with deep care for our students and each other, we moved all classes and student services online just days before winter quarter 2020 finals – successfully, and with the most support possible during a major shift in operations. Few of us realized during these first weeks of a global pandemic that it would be with us for more than two years.
We emerged stronger, wiser and more united from that shared experience. Similarly, while we're confronting current important issues for the college – the reaffirmation of accreditation, implementation of strategic planning initiatives, and planning for the use of Measure G bond funds – I am confident that we can work together to achieve the best outcomes for our college and, most importantly, our students.
As we address these issues together, I am always happy to have your input. Over the past several days, I have met with all managers, the leaders of the Classified Senate, ACE, Academic Senate and Faculty Association, and will meet soon with DASG leadership, other students and CSEA. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at this email address. We'll also let you know very soon about opportunities to drop by to see senior staff and me, and to participate in occasional Zoom Q&As with us.
I could not ask for a better group of senior staff colleagues, most of whom have been in leadership roles at De Anza for many years, and all of whom are completely devoted to serving our students. You may have heard that a couple of weeks ago, Vice President of Administrative Services Pam Grey submitted her letter of retirement, effective Aug. 16. This preceded the news of former President Holmes' departure, but was not widely announced as he was out of the office. I want to take this opportunity to honor Pam for her ceaseless work for our students. I also want to thank her for allowing us sufficient time to fill the position; that hiring committee will be underway soon.
Spring quarter and graduation are coming up soon. I always enjoy this time of year at De Anza, and I look forward to the excitement around graduation and the reward of seeing our students celebrate their accomplishments with their families and friends. I’m looking forward to sharing these moments with you, once again.
Kindly,
Christina
Christina G. Espinosa-Pieb
(Pronouns: She/Her/Herself/Ella)
Acting President
