Superintendent/President Search

The Position

SMC Graduates The Superintendent/President is the Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Monica Community College District and President of Santa Monica College. Responsibilities are carried out in keeping with the policies and expectations of the seven-member elected Board of Trustees and a Student Trustee, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, and state law in a collegial manner. The Superintendent/President is responsible for assessing, planning, organizing, and evaluating the resources, programs, and services to meet the educational needs of students, the community, and the state’s evolving priorities for postsecondary education and workforce development. As the educational and administrative leader of the College, the Superintendent/President represents the District to business and industry, the public-school district, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, public and private colleges and universities, city and county agencies, state government, and community organizations across the region.

The District

Santa Monica Community College District is a single-college district governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees, elected at large by the residents of the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu, and by a student-elected representative with an advisory vote. The District serves as a model for community colleges nationwide with its policy of open access and dedication to providing high quality higher education, attracting students from throughout the Southern California region, out-of-state, and internationally to its programs.

The College

Founded in 1929, Santa Monica College (SMC) is a two-year community college accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. SMC is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and a Black-Serving Institution and is the leader in California’s 116 community colleges system in transfers to the University of California, serving over 26,000 students each semester and offering 200+ academic and career-preparation programs spread over 65 disciplines. Its primary missions include transfer, career technical education, basic skills training, continuing education, and lifelong learning. SMC enriches the community with arts and culture through its public radio station, KCRW (89.9 FM), BroadStage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, and distinctive programs such as its Emeritus program for older adults. The 43-acre main campus and six satellite campuses include a world-class performing arts campus, another in the heart of Silicon Beach devoted to media content development and design, the Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School, and a downtown Santa Monica location for its pioneering Emeritus program. SMC is committed to diversity, works to eliminate racial equity gaps, and recognizes the importance of everyone’s contribution. Academic excellence at SMC is driven by its world-class faculty who believe in the power of the student-teacher connection. Additionally, the College has one of the most robust counseling and student support systems in the state.

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Mission

Santa Monica College offers robust educational programs and support services that assist students in developing the skills needed to succeed in college, prepare for careers and transfer, and nurture a lifelong commitment to learning. The College provides an inclusive and dynamic learning environment that supports intellectual exploration and helps students achieve their educational goals. As a proud minority-serving institution, the College works to eliminate racial equity gaps. It recognizes the critical importance of everyone’s contribution, ensuring that each person feels seen, affirmed, and valued.

Vision

Values Statement

As an institution committed to the free exchange of ideas, Santa Monica College will foster its core values: knowledge, intellectual inquiry, research-based planning and evaluation, integrity, accountability, ethical behavior, democratic processes, communication and collaboration, civic engagement, global citizenship, and sustainability.

Enrollment

Santa Monica College has an enrollment each semester of approximately 26,370 students that reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the area. Of those identified, the student body is over 37% Latinx, 30% White, over 8% Black, and over 8% Asian/Pacific Islander. In gender breakdown, 57.7% of the student body are women. Additionally, more than 1,750 international students from approximately 101 countries enrich the College’s global culture.

Faculty and Staff

District Budget

The College has an annual General Fund budget exceeding $326 million and an annual capital construction and other restricted activities budget exceeding $393 million. The College also holds a robust voter-approved bond capacity available to support the modernization of campus infrastructure. Unexpended capital funds are re-appropriated annually.

Santa Monica College seeks a bold, creative, transformational visionary who will embrace the task of revitalizing the College following a period of enrollment and budgetary challenges. The next Superintendent/President will be an evidence-driven executive who governs collaboratively, a superb communicator across all forms, and possesses the emotional intelligence and empathy to improve morale in the face of these challenges. Successful leadership experience in community colleges and a terminal degree are preferred. Candidacies from fields other than higher education are welcome, provided such individuals exhibit an exceptional track record of leading complex organizations.

The new Superintendent/President will:

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Leadership

Lead the effort to ensure the College’s culture aligns with its mission and vision
Champion Vision 2030: A Roadmap for California Community Colleges, a call to action for all 116 colleges across the state to lead with equity and excellence, act with urgency, and serve as a force for economic mobility, environmental stewardship, and community resilience
Foster high standards of academic achievement and rigor in the classroom
Be an advocate for underrepresented groups and work with colleagues to close equity gaps and foster dialogue about diversity and inclusion
Be an advocate for academic freedom
Ensure that faculty, classified professionals, staff, managers, and students feel their perspectives are welcomed and are valued in furthering inclusive decision-making and participatory governance
Form an effective and collaborative working relationship with the Board of Trustees
Solicit input from all stakeholders and welcome feedback on issues facing the College
Model lifelong learning
Use data to inform decisions and to ground choices in evidence

Strategic Management

Articulate a compelling, shared vision for the future that galvanizes support for the path forward
Be an astute observer of higher education trends
Demonstrate past success in leading aspirational strategic planning efforts, including implementation over the short- and long-term
Demonstrate experience implementing or significantly advancing Guided Pathways or comparable structural reforms with measurable improvements in completion and equity outcomes
Engage artificial intelligence and emerging educational technologies thoughtfully and ethically, with attention to equity, participatory governance, and student success

External Affairs

Have the skills to navigate the rapid changes in higher education policy at the federal level
Have a record of success in private fundraising or the potential to succeed in this area
Be active in the broader community and seek partnerships that benefit the College
Serve as an effective advocate for the College with policy makers at all levels of government

Personal Characteristics

Model the highest standards of trust, integrity and transparency
Have a good sense of humor and an optimistic outlook
Be a visible presence on campus and demonstrate an engaging, approachable, and collaborative leadership style

Minimum Qualifications

All candidates must have evidence of responsiveness to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students as these factors relate to the need for equity-minded practices; AND
Earned master's degree from a regionally accredited institution or equivalent; AND
Seven (7) years of progressively responsible senior administrative leadership experience in education, or comparable executive leadership experience, with a demonstrated record of effective organizational management, sound business and operational practices, and strong fiscal oversight. Qualifying experience must include reporting directly to a governing board or chief executive officer and responsibility for strategic leadership, financial management, and institutional effectiveness.
Experience working in a diverse academic and socioeconomic educational environment.
Demonstrated commitment to equity-focused leadership, responsiveness, and sensitivity to every aspect of human diversity and active promotion of an inclusive educational and working environment.
Demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching and student success.

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Fiscal Stability and Stewardship

Santa Monica College is navigating an important period in its financial life, one that calls for careful stewardship, thoughtful planning, and a steady focus on restructuring and long-term sustainability. A central priority for the institution is to strengthen fiscal stability through transparent, equitable, and disciplined financial planning that aligns institutional resources with the College’s educational mission. This work will require balancing immediate realities with longer-term goals, while keeping students, employees, and institutional resilience at the center. Demonstrated competency in community college state funding models is desired.

Equity, Inclusion, Fairness, and Institutional Accountability

Equity and inclusion remain vital priorities for Santa Monica College and are closely connected to both student success and institutional culture. The College continues to be called to strengthen equitable outcomes, close racial equity gaps, reinforce fairness in practice, and ensure that institutional policies and practices support student success, and that people across roles, lived experiences, and identities experience the institution as respectful, inclusive, and supportive. This work includes attention to both policy and practice: how decisions are made, how resources are allocated, how people are treated, and how accountability is understood. The priority is not only to articulate values, but to ensure they are reflected consistently in the daily life of the College.

Student-Centered Alignment of Programs, Services, and Support

A central institutional priority is to ensure that the College’s decisions remain firmly centered on students and their success. This includes ongoing attention to course availability, academic pathways, student services, closing racial equity gaps, and the broader systems that support students’ persistence, completion, transfer, and goal achievement. As Santa Monica College navigates financial, organizational, and enrollment questions, it will be important to maintain close alignment between institutional choices and the lived realities of students. This is especially true for students who may face multiple barriers and who rely on the college not only for instruction, but also for guidance, support, and opportunity, and the broader systems that help students persist, complete, transfer, and achieve their goals.

Shared Purpose

The next Superintendent/President will step into a pivotal moment of opportunity for the institution. Santa Monica College possesses many of the assets needed to shape a strong and more vibrant future: a talented and committed community, a respected reputation, a diverse student body, valuable physical and regional assets, and a shared desire to move forward with clarity, trust, equity, and purpose. This is an opportunity to help the College define its next chapter in ways that are student-centered, future-focused, and grounded in inclusion, innovation, and human dignity.

Positioning the College for Future Student and Curricular Success

There is an opportunity to align academic offerings, student supports, and operational priorities with the needs of today’s learners and tomorrow’s economy. This includes expanding and elevating pathways in transfer, career education, baccalaureate innovation, online and hybrid learning, and programs responsive to working adults, returning learners, and students seeking clear connections to meaningful employment. With thoughtful leadership, Santa Monica College can strengthen curricular relevance while preserving its longstanding commitment to academic excellence and student opportunity. The next leader will also oversee the creation of student housing, presenting an incredible, historic opportunity to meet the basic needs for our most vulnerable students.

Advancing Inclusive and Holistic Student Success

Santa Monica College is well-positioned to deepen support for first-generation students, historically underserved and racially minoritized students, international students, and others whose educational journeys require flexible, well-designed systems of access and care. By aligning instruction, student services, technology, and counseling, we center the student experience with a coherent, equity-minded, inclusive, and responsive approach to the realities of students’ lives to enhance student success.

Economic, Community, and Workforce Development

Santa Monica College should lead in collaborating with economic and workforce development leaders and organizations, by aligning degree, certificate, and workforce programs with in-demand jobs, ensuring the College supports the regional workforce needs and takes full advantage of revenue streams and available programs.

Environmental Stewardship and Leadership

The next leader has an opportunity to build upon SMC’s strong reputation as a leader in sustainability by addressing the climate crisis through responsible resource management, greening the curriculum, and resilience, in alignment with the Climate Action and Sustainability goals from the Chancellor’s Vision 2030.

Leading Innovation with Care and Responsibility

Santa Monica College seeks to be intentional in how it engages artificial intelligence, digital tools, and new educational models to improve teaching, learning, and institutional effectiveness. This is not simply a technological question, but a human one: how to use innovation to expand access, strengthen learning, support faculty and staff, and prepare students for a changing world. The next leader can help the College become a model for responsible, future-facing innovation that is both practical and values-driven.

Expanding Partnerships and Regional Impact

Santa Monica College can deepen its impact through stronger partnerships and more visible regional leadership. Its location, reputation, and programmatic breadth create opportunities to build meaningful connections with K–12 partners, universities, employers, industry leaders, and community organizations. Those partnerships can strengthen enrollment, enrich curriculum, expand internships and career pathways, and support workforce development in emerging sectors, including technology, sustainability, healthcare, and the creative economy. In this way, the next Superintendent/President has the opportunity to strengthen the College internally and further elevate its role as a trusted educational and civic partner for the broader community.

Enrollment Strength, Access, and Responsiveness to Student Needs

Enrollment strength remains a significant institutional priority and an essential part of the College’s future. The campus is being called to respond to changing demographics, evolving student expectations, and new workforce realities in ways that broaden access and reinforce relevance. This includes ensuring that academic pathways, course schedules, student supports, and outreach efforts are well-aligned with the needs of transfer students, adult learners, part-time students, career-focused students, and other populations seeking flexible, high-quality opportunities. Sustained attention to enrollment growth and student retention will be critical to the College’s vitality and public mission.

Communication, Transparency, and Confidence Across the Institution

There is an opportunity to strengthen institutional communication, deepen collaboration, and reinforce community trust. Across the campus, there is a strong commitment to fostering timely, transparent communication grounded in respect, particularly as the College navigates important conversations related to budgeting, staffing, planning, and institutional priorities. The College seeks to continue to cultivate a culture in which information is openly shared, perspectives are valued, and members of the community feel informed, engaged, and meaningfully connected to the life and future of the institution.

Equity Statement

Santa Monica College encourages equity-minded candidates to apply. SMC is a minority-serving, Hispanic-serving institution. We actively seek to attract candidates from minority groups that value equity, diversity, and inclusion. Equity, diversity, and inclusion are built into the culture at SMC and are an essential component of the work that we do. SMC is committed to racial and socioeconomic diversity as it reflects our student population, and we strive to hire candidates who share this commitment.

Diversity Statement

Experience working with African American, Latinx, Native American, and other racially minoritized students in the classroom, and a willingness to use culturally responsive instructional practices. Demonstrated sensitivity to issues of diversity and ability to motivate and teach community college students of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, genders, cultures, and learning styles, as well as students with disabilities or varied levels of academic preparation. Please review our Faculty/Staff Diversity Reports.

Nominations and Applications

SMC students in Quad The Search Consultants’ review of applications will begin immediately. Candidates are strongly encouraged to submit early in the process. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled; however, to ensure full consideration, applications must be received by July 22, 2026.

Application materials should be submitted in PDF format through the Superintendent/President – Santa Monica College AGB Search Portal, and must include the following:

Letter of Interest: A letter addressing why they are interested in the position, how they meet the qualifications identified in the profile, and how they would address the major challenges and opportunities facing Santa Monica College identified in the profile;
Curriculum Vitae/Resume: A current curriculum vitae or resume of professional experience, accomplishments, and educational background;
References: The contact information for five professional references, including email address, phone number, and relationship to the candidate. No references will be contacted without prior explicit approval.

Please direct nominations, confidential inquiries or any questions regarding the application process to SMCSuperPres@agbsearch.com or one of the AGB Search consultants listed below.

Kim Bobby, Ed.D., Principal
kim.bobby@agbsearch.com / 253-861-7738

Frederick V. Moore, J.D./M.B.A., Senior Executive Search Consultant
fred.moore@agbsearch.com / 712-299-2544

Equal Employment Opportunity Disclosure

The Santa Monica Community College District is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity. All qualified applicants for employment, as well as District employees, shall have full and equal access to employment opportunities. No person shall be subjected to unlawful discrimination in any program or activity of the District. Download the District’s Board Policy 3420 (Equal Employment Opportunity).

The District is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity. The District will provide equal employment opportunities in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, and will implement a comprehensive program to put those principles into practice.

Salary & Benefits

Starting salary is $360,000 – $420,000. The District pays 100% of the medical, dental, and vision premiums for the employee and eligible dependents; this may be subject to changes per the benefit plan year. A District-paid Life and AD&D Insurance covers the employee only. The total compensation package for the Superintendent/President is negotiable.

Additional Information

The Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1987, Public Law 99-603 requires that employers obtain documentation from every new employee which authorizes that individual to accept employment in this country. This requirement applies to both United States citizens and aliens. Any employee who is unwilling/unable to fulfill this requirement will not be employed. Santa Monica College does not sponsor applicants for visas.

If accommodations are needed for the application process in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact Karen Monzon at 310-434-4942 or monzon_karen@smc.edu.

It is the policy of the SMCCD that all candidates for employment need to be cleared for employment through the process of background check and verification of prior employment, references, and credentials.

Crime awareness and campus security information are available from Campus Police and Safety. (Public Law 101-542)

The Santa Monica Community College District does not discriminate in the educational programs and activities operated by the District, or in employment procedures and practices of the District.

The Board of Trustees reserves the right to extend time limits or to reinstate the search process at any time. Moreover, the Board of Trustees may choose to pursue an external appointment pursuant to the guidelines set forth in Title 5 regulations. SMCCD is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from underrepresented minorities and the disabled.

SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT – Equal Opportunity, Title IX, Section 504 Employer. Recruitment Services Provided by AGB Search

Download the Superintendent/President Search Book

Superintendent/President Search

The Position

The District

The College

Mission

Vision

Values Statement

Enrollment

Faculty and Staff

District Budget

Desired Qualities, Experiences, and Qualifications

Leadership

Strategic Management

External Affairs

Personal Characteristics

Minimum Qualifications

Priorities and Opportunities

Fiscal Stability and Stewardship

Equity, Inclusion, Fairness, and Institutional Accountability

Student-Centered Alignment of Programs, Services, and Support

Shared Purpose

Positioning the College for Future Student and Curricular Success

Advancing Inclusive and Holistic Student Success

Economic, Community, and Workforce Development

Environmental Stewardship and Leadership

Leading Innovation with Care and Responsibility

Expanding Partnerships and Regional Impact

Enrollment Strength, Access, and Responsiveness to Student Needs

Communication, Transparency, and Confidence Across the Institution

Equity Statement

Diversity Statement

Nominations and Applications

Equal Employment Opportunity Disclosure

Salary & Benefits

Additional Information