New VP of Instruction Christina Espinosa-Pieb; More VP News

December 8, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

We were very fortunate to have had two outstanding candidates for vice president of Instruction. I am pleased to announce that I have asked Interim Vice President Christina Espinosa-Pieb to assume the responsibilities of the position on a permanent basis.

Christina is an exceptional administrative talent, having served twice as interim vice president of Instruction and for nine years as dean of Academic Services. In addition, Christina worked in Student Services -- in Disabled Students Programs and Services -- for 18 years, beginning, in fact, as a De Anza student employee. Her rich experience will help facilitate a wonderful collaboration between Instruction and Student Services for student success.

Throughout the years, Christina has participated broadly in the campus community, serving on numerous shared governance groups, including Campus Budget, Instructional Planning & Budget Team and College Council. She also served for four years as Accreditation Liaison Officer, among numerous other internal and external activities. As vice president of Instruction, Christina's deep intellect, broad experience and passion for student equity will serve De Anza College well.

Our search for vice president of Student Services was, unfortunately, unsuccessful. We will reopen the process and will ensure that leadership for the dedicated staff and administrators in that area continues in the meantime.

As you may be aware, Vice President of Educational Resources and College Operations Jeanine Hawk has been appointed vice president of Business and Administration at Santa Monica College. I accepted her news with deep regret while understanding that this is a remarkable professional opportunity for her to continue her work for student success.

As I noted when informing administrators of her decision, Jeanine has served De Anza faithfully, creatively and tirelessly for five years. She has managed our budgets and our capital projects with an essential devotion to our students and to their lives in and out of the classroom. At the same time she has been an advocate and champion for our faculty and classified professional staff, always looking for ways we can advance and protect the college community. We will miss her.

We will open a search to fill the position, and will keep you informed of the interim management of Jeanine's many responsibilities.

Thank you for your thoughtful participation in all of our vice presidential forums.

Best Wishes,
Brian Murphy

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