Oakley has been unanimously selected as the new chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the largest system of higher education in the country. He will become the first Latino to head the organization, which is composed of 72 districts and serves 2.1 million students per year, according to Long Beach City College (LBCC).
Oakley will begin his new job on Dec. 19 and replace Chancellor Brice W. Harris, who retired earlier this year after leading the community college system for nearly four years. Erik E. Skinner will continue serving as interim chancellor until Oakley takes office.
“Today the Board of Governors continues the tradition of selecting great chancellors to lead the California Community Colleges,” said Board President Geoffrey L. Baum. “Eloy Ortiz Oakley is an innovative and tested leader who understands how to operate successfully in a large, complex system of public higher education. In Oakley, we see a change agent— someone whose relentless focus on student success will help more students obtain certificates and degrees or transfer to four-year institutions on time. As a member of the UC Board of Regents and with his close ties with California State University, he is well positioned to foster greater collaboration that will benefit all students.”
Gov. Jerry Brown also supported the organization’s choice of Oakley.
“Eloy Oakley knows California’s community colleges inside and out and has served at every level in the system— from teaching in the classroom to running a campus as superintendent,” Brown said. “California’s 113 community colleges— and the 2.1 million students they serve— are in good hands.”
During his tenure at LBCC, Oakley was a key player in forming the nationally recognized Long Beach College Promise program, the goal of which is to ensure that local students have a clearly delineated path to higher education. Through the program, high school administrators and teachers are encouraged to work with college faculty and staff to create structured pathways for students to follow as they progress from one educational institution to the next. Local students are guaranteed a tuition-free year at LBCC and preferred admission status to California State University, Long Beach after completing transfer requirements.
The program has inspired similar ones across the country, including America’s College Promise, an initiative President Barack Obama introduced in 2015 that was modeled in part on the Long Beach College Promise.
Another Long Beach education leader, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee and is a member of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, also spoke out in favor of Oakley’s appointment.
“I want to add my enthusiastic congratulations to Superintendent-President Eloy Oakley on being selected as the new chancellor for the California Community Colleges— he is the right choice,” O’Donnell said. “The students of Long Beach City College benefitted tremendously from President Oakley’s innovative ideas and exemplary leadership. I am confident his talents will have an equally positive impact on the millions of students enrolled in community colleges across our state.”
O’Donnell cited Oakley’s “strong record as a trailblazer in the field of education policy” and said the superintendent-president’s championing of initiatives such as the Long Beach College Promise, alternative-placement procedures, guided pathways and transfer degrees have not only benefitted the students O’Donnell had taught as a classroom teacher, but also allowed countless others to reach their educational and professional goals.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-21-at-1.40.05-PM.png” credit=”File photo” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Long Beach City College President-Superintendent Eloy Ortiz Oakley during his State of the College address on Feb. 6, 2015″ captionposition=”right”] “As chair of the Assembly Education Committee,” O’Donnell added, “I look forward to continuing my partnership with President Oakley on initiatives such as the California College Promise and moving the system forward to ensure Californians have greater access to affordable, quality higher education.”
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) was also on board with the choice of Oakley to helm California Community Colleges.
“In less than a decade at the helm, [Oakley] has transformed Long Beach City College into a world-class college that serves all facets of the community— students seeking to transfer, career technical education students, and adult learners,” Rendon wrote in a statement Monday. “His successful work on boosting transfer rates for underserved students and on the Long Beach College Promise program has become a model for colleges statewide.”
Rendon added that it is only fitting that Oakley will now be able to apply his success in Long Beach to all California community colleges.
“I thank [Oakley] for his service to Long Beach and look forward to our continued partnership to make quality, affordable college achievable for every Californian,” the Assembly speaker said.
While at LBCC, Oakley also helped establish Promise Pathways, a program that uses high school performance grades and transcripts to ensure students are placed in appropriate class levels. Promise Pathways also uses improved advising and enrollment practices to help students select the right classes to maximize their success, according to LBCC.
To jumpstart the area’s economy, Oakley partnered with Goldman Sachs to implement the 10,000 Small Businesses Program to help small businesses grow and create jobs. “This successful endeavor has taught more than 600 local business owners how to expand operations, increase profits and create more jobs in the region,” states a press release from LBCC.
Oakley is himself a product of the state’s community college system. After serving four years in the U.S. Army, he enrolled at Golden West College then transferred to the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a bachelor of arts in environmental analysis and design and a master’s in business administration.
Oakley joined the Long Beach Community College District in 20 02, serving as the assistant superintendent/executive vice president of administrative services. Previously, he served as: vice president of college services at Oxnard College; assistant vice president of the Property & Casualty Division of Keenan & Associates; and manager of risk services at the Coast Community College District. Oakley also served as an adjunct faculty member for the Environmental Technology Certificate Program at Golden West College.
In 2014, Gov. Brown appointed Oakley to the University of California Board of Regents.
Oakley serves on the boards and committees of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the California Forward Leadership Council, the College Futures Foundation, the American Association of Community Colleges, the YMCA of Greater Long Beach and the Long Beach Rotary Club. He also sits on the advisory board for the California State University, Long Beach Ed.D. Program in Educational Leadership.
“As a California native and a product of a California community college, I am honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to lead the largest and most diverse system of higher education in the nation,” Oakley said. “I wish to thank the Board of Governors, Gov. Brown and the people of California for expressing their faith in me. I recognize that I would not have this opportunity but for the amazing faculty and staff that make up our community college system. As chancellor, I look forward to working with our 113 colleges, public-education advocates, civil-rights organizations, education-policy experts and business and civic leaders to better serve our students and to create value for our great state.”
