Press Release January 9, 2006

San José, CA — Ron Root, former vice president of business services for Santa Rosa Junior College, has assumed the role of interim vice chancellor of administrative services for the San José/Evergreen Community College District. Root replaces Michael Hill who recently retired and served SJECCD in this capacity for the past 37 years, 25 years in the capacity of vice chancellor of administrative services.

“We are pleased to have Ron Root as part of our administrative team,” says Rosa Pérez, Chancellor, San José/Evergreen Community College District. “Ron Root has a long career of advocating for strong funding of education programs and for supporting strong compensation for employees. He is an educator as well as a business leader that we welcome with much enthusiasm in our district.”

Besides serving as vice president of business services for Santa Rosa Junior College, Root's experience includes: vice president/controller for Henry Ford Community College, Michigan; state director, Higher Education Management Services for Michigan's Department of Education; policy analyst for the Michigan House of Representatives and budget analyst for the Michigan Governor's Department of Management and Budget.

“The San José/Evergreen Community College District is well-known around the state and nation as a premier institution of higher learning, and I feel privileged to assist the district in this interim period as it conducts a national search for a new vice chancellor,” says Ron Root, Interim Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services.

While serving as interim vice chancellor, Root will work closely with the chancellor, administration, staff, and constituency groups to develop and implement the business and financial services necessary to support the mission of SJECCD.

Under direction of the chancellor, the vice-chancellor for administrative services is the chief fiscal officer, bearing responsibility for development, approval and control of the district budget. As interim vice chancellor of business services, Root's responsibilities include planning and directing the business and administrative services functions of the district and overseeing the operations of the college bookstores, information technology support and systems, campus police, purchasing, accounting, budget and payroll, plant planning, facilities and maintenance, and auxiliary services including support of the district foundation and the Institute for Business Performance.

San José Evergreen Community College District includes San José City College, Evergreen Valley College and the Institute for Business Performance. Both community colleges serve residents of the 303-square mile San José/Evergreen Community College District. The District includes the areas served by Milpitas and San José Unified School Districts, together with the Eastside Union High School District. Residents who are high school graduates, or at least 18 years of age may attend either college, as there are no attendance boundaries within the District.