Francisco Rodriguez: Community Colleges and Economic and Social Mobility

The UC Davis Forums is pleased to announce that Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Community College District will be the featured speaker at the fifth event of our 2017-2018 season!

In this forum, Dr. Rodriguez will proceed from the observation that America’s community colleges— which are the most egalitarian institutions of public higher education, serving more than 12 million students each year—play a leading role in supporting social mobility as well as our nation’s strength, economic health and prosperity, and democracy. He will address how community colleges currently face an array of formidable challenges, including demands to increase access and equity; raise completion and graduation rates; and improve postgraduate outcomes. Indeed, they must meet these challenges in a climate of decreasing public confidence in higher education, staggering enrollments, and segregated educational attainment. Dr. Rodriguez will describe how community colleges provide the best return on investment in higher education.

The lecture will run from 3:00-4:30 PM with a reception to follow from 4:30-5:30 PM. Light refreshments will be provided before and after the lecture.

Dr. Francisco Rodriguez is the chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest community college district in the nation with nine accredited colleges, over 250,000 students enrolled, and an annual budget of $5.8 billion.

Appointed chancellor of the District in 2014, Dr. Rodriguez has worked to raise the District’s profile and improve its reputation as the best urban community college district in the nation. To accomplish this, Dr. Rodriguez has charted a course that includes well-prepared and innovative faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and instructional equipment, superbly trained and professional support staff, and business and community engagement. During his tenure, Chancellor Rodriguez led the efforts to pass a $3.3 billion local facilities bond in 2016 and the hiring of close to five-hundred full-time faculty.

A noted scholar and education activist, Dr. Rodriguez has 30 years of experience as an educator, faculty member, and administrator within California public higher education. Dr. Rodriguez has dedicated his career to high quality public education and championing diversity, equity and inclusion, and outreach to underserved communities. In particular, Dr. Rodriguez has focused his career on educational policies that expand access to higher education and financial aid, tireless advocacy for undocumented students and student-veterans, and the leadership development of young Latino and African American males. He frequently speaks on the topics of higher education, student access and success, governance and governing boards, workforce development, fundraising and philanthropy, and community.

From 2003–2014, Dr. Rodriguez served as president of Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California, and superintendent/president of MiraCosta Community College District, respectively. His leadership at both institutions was marked by increased student enrollments, the diversification of faculty, students and administration more representative of the students served, increased support for student success, increased endowments, and robust university, business and community engagement.

Dr. Rodriguez serves as chair of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for the Directorate of Education and Human Resources; director of the Board of Higher Education and Workforce of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; president of the California Association of Latino Community College Trustees and Administrators Association (CALCCTA); and is an appointee of California Governor Jerry Brown to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). He is also the past president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association (U.C. Davis) and director of the U.C. Davis Foundation Board.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Dr. Rodriguez attended the University of California, Davis, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Chicano studies and his master’s degree in community development. He received his Ph.D. in education from Oregon State University, and serves as a lecturer in the doctoral education programs at Sacramento State University and at San Diego State University.

Having received numerous awards and recognitions from local, state and national organizations for his servant leadership and dedicated service, Dr. Rodriguez is a first-generation, English-language learner, and proud son of immigrant factory workers. He credits his parents for instilling a strong work ethic and a tuned moral compass.

Dr. Rodriguez is married to Irma, a faculty member at Sacramento City College. His two children are also educators: Andres, an ethnic studies professor at San Jose City College; and Angelica, a fourth-grade teacher at the San Francisco Unified School District.