The Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees will appoint a new member to fill Board Seat No. 4, a vacancy left by the recent death of Michele Jenkins, who served as a board member for nearly 40 years.

The Board will accept applications for the vacant board seat until 5 p.m. Friday, March 10.

To be considered for appointment, applicants must be:

– A resident of Trustee Area 4 (as defined by the 2015 Trustee Area boundaries);

– Age 18 or older, and

– A registered voter.

– Candidates must not be employed by the district, nor be disqualified from holding civil office by the Constitution or any law of the state.

A provisional appointment confers all powers and duties of a governing board member upon the appointee immediately following his or her appointment.

– Desirable qualities of board candidates include:

– Knowledge and involvement in the local business community

– Interest in and/or knowledge of financial/budgeting and community college funding issues

– Availability to invest time in district activities

– Experience in community relations and local community involvement

– Demonstrated interest in higher education strategic planning issues

– Ability to work within a group decision-making environment

– Involvement in previous volunteer/elected position(s)

– Involvement in advocacy/lobbying activities

– Willingness to speak in the public

– Familiarity with technology issues

– Demonstrated experience in generating external funds to support non-profit organizations

– Knowledge of and/or ability to develop/understand and implement public policy

– Experience and understanding of the Board’s role in labor negotiations

– Experience with personnel issues unique to higher education

Applications and more information, including maps showing the boundaries of Trustee Area 4, are available online at www.canyons.edu/board. To be considered for appointment, applicants must live within the boundaries of Trustee Area 4 that were approved by the board in 2015 and used in the 2020 election, when Jenkins was last elected.

Applications can be submitted online or mailed to the College of the Canyons Chancellor’s Office 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. Hand-delivered applications can be submitted to the Chancellor’s Office located in Canyons Hall (Room 250) at the college’s Valencia campus.

Selected candidates will be afforded an in-person interview, to be conducted by the board’s current members, during open session at a board meeting to be scheduled the week of March 20. After all candidates have interviewed, the board will discuss the results, vote on the appointment, and swear in the new member. The person appointed to the position shall hold office until the next regularly scheduled election on Nov. 5, 2024.

The appointed board member may run for re-election in November 2024. To be eligible for re-election, the candidate must be a resident of Trustee Area 4, as defined by the Trustee Area boundaries adopted by the board in 2022 following the 2020 Census.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight of the Santa Clarita Community College District, which currently serves more than 33,000 students annually and provides vital educational services to a 367 square-mile area, which includes the communities of the Santa Clarita Valley.