San Jose City College has announced that Rowena M. Tomaneng will serve as the school’s next president.
Tomaneng has been an educator in the California community college system for nearly 25 years, including most recently president of Berkeley City College since 2016. She previously held multiple positions at De Anza College, including associate vice president of instruction, dean of language arts and director of the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement, according to a press release from the college.
As a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines, Tomeneng has dedicated a lot of time to social justice, student equity and community engagement, the news release said.
At Berkeley Community College, Tomaneng helped develop Berkeley Promise — a scholarship initiative designed to help first-generation and economically disadvantaged Berkeley public school high school students attend college. She also expanded the school’s Undocumented Community Resource Center and Learning Communities, which provides wrap-around services and curriculum to first-generation and low-income students of color, the release said.
“We are very pleased to have a candidate of Dr. Tomaneng’s caliber to serve as the next president of San José City College,” Byron D. Clift Breland, chancellor of San José – Evergreen Community College District, said in the press release. “She brings a depth and breadth of experience that will help us continue our positive trajectory at SJCC.”
Tomaneng serves on the boards of the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education, National Asian Pacific Islander Council and Chief Executive Officers of the California Community Colleges. She is currently the co-Chair of California Campus Compact’s Community Colleges for Democracy and a member of the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.
“I’m very excited to be joining San José City College,” Tomaneng said in the press release. “I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues among the administration, faculty, and classified professionals to continue to move the institution forward and find new and innovative ways to serve our students and our community.”
Pending board approval, Tomaneng is scheduled to join the college on Jan. 6, 2020.