College District Selects New Chancellor

Santa Ana College President Edward Hernandez, 52, has been chosen Rancho Santiago Community College District chancellor.

The board of trustees promoted Hernandez earlier this week. He becomes the first Latino chancellor of the district, in which the student population is 55% Latino.

Hernandez succeeds Vivian Blevins, who resigned as chancellor and is working as a district consultant. She will be an English professor at the district’s Santiago Canyon College in Orange in the fall.

Under Blevins’ five-year tenure, graduation rates skyrocketed and the number of students transferring to four-year universities swelled to an all-time high.

The numbers rose so dramatically that the district now ranks second in the state in granting associate degrees.

Before she stepped down, Blevins also was credited with encouraging minority students to continue their college educations by taking advantage of special programs and scholarships.

Hernandez began his new job Tuesday with an annual base salary of $130,000.

“It’s a special honor for me to be given this vote of confidence,” Hernandez said.

Among issues he will tackle first as top executive, he said, is finding means of expanding of the district’s two colleges.

Board President Enriqueta L. Ramos called Hernandez the best choice of 10 candidates who applied for the position.

“He is very in control of himself and situations,” Ramos said of Hernandez. “He’s not an agitator. He doesn’t create problems or situations.”

Ramos and five of her colleagues on the board voted for Hernandez at a meeting Monday.

Trustee Charles W. “Pete” Maddox abstained, saying it would be irresponsible to hire someone after having spent only 45 minutes interviewing each of 10 finalists for the job and asking only 10 questions.