When Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Marvin Martinez began his tenure with the district in 2019, he came with a resume that included three decades of leadership in higher education.
Martinez’s accomplishments prior to RSCCD include improving outcomes for students, balancing budgets and overseeing millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades.
With a new year just underway, Martinez is setting in motion an ambitious agenda for the future of the district, which includes new and upgraded buildings, the expansion of apprenticeship programs and programs serving specialized populations.
At RSCCD, Martinez leads a district with an enrollment of 50,000 students and 3,000 employees.
The district includes Santa Ana College, Santiago Canyon College, the Orange and Centennial learning centers and RSCCD headquarters.
Realizing the demand for skilled professionals in a variety of industries, State Chancellor Sonya Christian has called on Martinez to take the lead on the Apprenticeship Pathways Demonstration Project, an initiative established by Gov. Garvin Newsom to create 500,000 new apprentices by the year 2030.
With seven apprenticeship programs currently offered at Santiago Canyon College, Martinez has been tasked with allocating funds to enhance and increase the number of apprenticeships to 25 community colleges statewide.
The benefits of apprenticeships are two-fold, the chancellor said.
“We can convert all of the hours that you’re generating as an apprentice into credit,” Martinez said. “You get an apprenticeship, but at the same time, you get a degree.”
The associate’s degree attained through an apprenticeship can be the ticket to enrollment into a four-year university, he said.
The chancellor would also like to build on some specialized programs that cater to specific demographics.
One such program is the Project Rise Program, a statewide community initiative providing job training and educational opportunities to assist formerly incarcerated individuals in their transition into the workforce.
“A lot of formerly incarcerated people just don’t get the chance,” Martinez said. “If those populations couldn’t come to us, where would they go to?”
Amid the decrease in the number of students attending college right after high school, Martinez is hoping to build on the current adult and continuing education curriculums at Santiago Canyon and Santa Ana colleges.
“We needed to find other areas where our enrollments can come from,” he said. “That area became adults.
While it might not be widely known, RSCCD offers a bachelor of science in occupational studies at Santa Ana College.
Martinez would like to increase the number of bachelor’s degree programs to 10.
The total cost to attain a bachelor’s degree in the district would cost about $11,000, excluding textbooks, a fraction of the cost for a degree at a four-year university.
“Many of these individuals will probably be low income, middle income, or even higher income, but they’ll be able to go and get a degree, an accredited degree from an accredited college so they can move forward with their career,” the chancellor said.
Growing and forging new relationships with community groups is another goal.
The RSCCD currently enjoys symbiotic relationships with Santa Ana Unified School District, the Santa Ana Unified School District, the Orange County School of the Arts and other schools.
Martinez hopes to go deeper into the community to forge new relationships.
Orange County icons such as Disney, Anaheim Stadium and the Angels would make for beneficial partnerships to both sides, Martinez said.
One of Chancellor Martinez’s large-scale goals, albeit costly, is to implement needed infrastructure upgrades throughout the district, particularly at Santa Ana College, which was constructed 100 years ago, he said.
At Santa Ana College, a new facility is needed to house automotive technology, welding and culinary arts programs, which all utilize hands-on learning classes.
A new student services and student life building is needed at Santago Canyon College.
Some upgrades would likely require the passage of a bond measure, the chancellor said.
“We need to have the newest facilities and technologies so that we can prepare students for the jobs of today,” Martinez said. “We can’t do that on our own. So, we do need help from voters.”
An economic impact report recently published by the RSCCD showed that the district contributed nearly $2 billion to the Orange County economy.
“I believe in getting out there and supporting the needs of the local community,” Martinez said.
