Trustees Tap Rowena M. Tomaneng As Next President of Berkeley City College

At its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, the Board of Trustees of the Peralta Community College District appointed Rowena M. Tomaneng to serve as the next president of Berkeley City College. Tomaneng’s appointment comes following the departure of the previous president, Deborah Budd, who accepted the position of Chancellor of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District earlier this year. Tomaneng will assume her post on August 1, 2016.

“I am extremely happy that the Trustees have appointed Ms. Tomaneng and look forward to working with her on some of the key issues facing Berkeley City College, in particular, and the Peralta Colleges in general,” said District Chancellor Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.

“Ms. Tomaneng has the background, leadership skills and the temperament to lead BCC at this time,” he added. “We are happy to have her join the dynamic faculty, staff and administrators at BCC to continue and amplify the quality education and services they provide.”

Rowena Tomaneng has been the Associate Vice President of Instruction at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif., for six years. She has overseen the Academic Services Division (including the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education), the Office of Professional Development and Pathways programs, such as the Learning Communities of Umoja, Puente, and First Year Experience, as well as the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action, formerly the Institute for Community and Civic Engagement, where, in 2006, she was a founding co-director and developed a range of community and educational partnerships.

Tomaneng has also overseen collaborative units at the De Anza, including the Learning Resources Division, consisting of Online Education, the Library and the Student Success Center. She holds leadership roles in state initiatives, including both the Student Equity and Student Success and Support Programs. She has obtained and administered state and federal grants, including the Basic Skills Initiative, Asian American/Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions and Title III: Strengthening Institutions. Tomaneng has worked on faculty and district-wide administrative teams for many years, leading and developing program reviews and accreditation documents. In 2013, she won the statewide Association of California Community College Administrators’ Administrative Leadership Excellence Award, nominated by faculty in Academic Services.

Previously, Tomaneng served for over two years as Interim Dean of De Anza’s Language Arts Division, which includes 50 full-time and 140 adjunct faculty members, and offers 85 courses in the English Department, ranging from basic skills to multicultural literatures, as well as the departments of ESL, Journalism, Reading and Speech. She was English Department chair for the preceding three years and led initiatives to foster equity in faculty hiring and cultural competency. Tomaneng was a full-time English instructor at De Anza College from 1996-2010, teaching all levels of composition and literature. She has participated extensively in curriculum development and developed various community and educational partnerships.

Tomaneng is actively engaged in culturally focused local, regional and national organizations and has led advocacy campaigns. She has written and contributed to a variety of publications and currently serves on the advisory board to the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Upon completion of her dissertation on the educational dimensions of Filipina migrant workers’ activist identities, Tomaneng is scheduled to receive her doctorate in International/Multicultural Education, with a concentration in Human Rights Education from the University of San Francisco in December. She holds a master’s degree in English from UC Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in English from UC Irvine.