Contact: Judy IannacconeAugust 25, 2004
Director, CommunicationsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: (714) 480-7503
e-mail:
John Didion appointed interim Santa Ana College president
(Santa Ana)— Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) board of trustees has named John Didion as interim president of Santa Ana College. Didion is serving as leader for the 89-year-old community college until a permanent president is found. He is responsible for its administration, academic and student services, as well as budget management and leading the institution’s fund development efforts.
With more than 20 years of administrative experience in California community colleges, he has served as college district’s executive vice chancellor of human resources and educational services since 1997. He functions as the district’s chief personnel officer whose responsibilities include labor negotiations, employee recruitment, selection, and discipline, fringe benefit administration, and risk management. Didion is also responsible for the district’s economic development programs, institutional research, and resource development activities.
Prior to 1997, he held administrative positions in the Long Beach Community College District and the Cerritos Community College District.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in public administration from California State
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Interim President of Santa Ana College2/2
University, Long Beach.
In addition to his duties with the district, Didion serves on the board of directors of a number of professional and community organizations including the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union, the City of Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board, the Association of California Community College Administrators, and the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs.
Santa Ana College ranks as California’s second highest producer of minority graduations, ranking eighth nationally in this category. It also ranks 40th among the top one hundred associate degree producers in the nation. One hundred percent of its honor graduates applying to UC have been accepted for the past eight years, surpassing the state average of 92 percent. Overall, the college is in the top 25th percentile of all California community colleges for students who transfer to the UC and CSU systems.
Santiago Canyon College and Santa Ana College are public community colleges of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, which serves the residents of Anaheim Hills, Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, and customized training for business and industry.
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