- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Navarette named new Woodland Community College president
On Tuesday, Chancellor Shouan Pan announced the decision to begin contract negotiations with Dr. Lizette Navarette to become Woodland Community College’s next president.
Chancellor Pan plans to place the employment agreement on the agenda for public review and approval consideration by the governing board at its next regular meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 14.
Yuba Community College District includes both Yuba Community College and Woodland Community College, the latter of which includes the Lake County Campus in Clearlake.
On Tuesday, Lake County News was unable to reach Navarette through the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, where she currently works.
The Full-time Faculty Association of Yuba Community College District, or FAYCCD, extended a warm welcome to Dr. Navarette as she steps into the president position at Woodland Community College, said union President Georgie O'Keefe.
“As we embark on this new chapter for WCC, FAYCCD is eager to work with Dr. Navarette to help rebuild trust and morale at WCC and also throughout the district. Once again, we express our warmest welcome to our new WCC president and eagerly await the opportunity to meet and engage in fruitful discussions,” O’Keefe said.
The Yuba Community College District conducted a nationwide search that resulted in 36 applicants for the Woodland College president’s job, Dr. Pan said in an Oct. 23 listening session with staff and local leaders.
At that time, Pan emphasized his belief in the importance of selecting a new Woodland Community College president as part of addressing concerns at the Lake County Campus.
The 36 original applicants were narrowed to 11 semifinalists who were interviewed in late October. Navarette was one of four finalists the district announced earlier this month.
District officials said three “outstanding” final candidates interviewed for the job on Nov. 14, the same day that they were featured in public forums.
Navarette currently serves as executive vice chancellor at the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, where she leads the Office of Institutional Supports and Success which includes college finance, facilities planning, institutional effectiveness and government relations, according to a biography released by the college district.
Her responsibilities include formulating policies that determine the distribution of over $13 billion in local assistance and capital outlay funds to the state’s 73 community college districts, professional development which advances student success, and coordinating state and federal matters for the system.
Other previous positions held by Navarette include California Community College’s vice chancellor of College Finance and Facilities Planning — she was the first woman to hold that position — and vice president of the Community College League of California, as well as associate director of regional relations for the University of California, Riverside, and as the youth and education coordinator for the city of Riverside.
A first-generation college graduate, Navarette holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from UC Riverside, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of La Verne, and a doctorate in education from UC Davis.
In 2021, Dr. Navarette earned the United Nations Global Education for All award for her research on working adult learners.
Importance of the new president
Navarette’s selection followed by less than two weeks a Yuba Community College District Board meeting in Clearlake during which former students and faculty, as well as Lake County leaders, told the board they needed to give the Lake County Campus the resources it deserves in order to save it.
At that Nov. 9 meeting, community members blamed the campus’ decline on the decision in the 2016-2017 academic year to align the Lake County Campus with Woodland Community College, the administration of which they said has been squeezing the campus through attrition of staff and cutting of student resources.
“Woodland should not decide what is good for Lake County. Period,” Clearlake City Councilman Slooten told the board, one of two dozen speakers who championed the campus at the meeting.
Following the meeting, Dr. Pan told Lake County News that the district board had heard community members’ concerns.
“The Board and I are focusing on shoring up college and campus leadership, including hiring the permanent president for Woodland Community College and later the permanent vice president, and dean for the Lake County Campus,” Pan said in an email. “Having the right leadership matters to the future of the college and the Colusa Center and the LCC.”
At that point, Pan said they were at “the last step of hiring the permanent College president.”
He said realigning the Lake County Campus is not under consideration. “One of the top priorities for the new president is to understand the issues and challenges related to LCC and to develop a plan to address them, including a review of the resource allocation.”
Navarette will be key not just to working with the Lake County Campus but also to addressing the issues that have arisen with the district’s full-time faculty.
FAYCCD said its members have worked without a contract since July 1, 2022, and are no closer to a contract now.
“The District has made it clear verbally and in writing that it does not view full-time faculty as a fiscal priority,” O’Keefe said in a memo sent to full-time staff on Nov. 8.
On Nov. 17, union members voted to develop a work to rule plan and then enact it in the near future.
As O’Keefe explained, “Work-to-rule is a lawful job action where employees do exactly what is stated in the written rules, procedures, and the contract—nothing more, no free labor—to help demonstrate the value of their contributions and the necessity for fair compensation. This is an appropriate and effective strategy in those cases where employers provide unfair and unreasonable compensation offers. Through work to-rule, we demonstrate to management just how important our work is, and how much overwork we do—including the work before our day even begins.
Navarette is on track to begin the president’s job in early 2024, which is the timeline Pan had reported at the Oct. 23 meeting.
The district board also appointed Patricia Barba as the Lake County Campus’ interim dean at its Nov. 9 meeting.
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