Spotlight
Trustees See a Bright Future Ahead for Merced College
By Luciana Chavez Special to Merced College Serving as a trustee on a college or school district board requires the expertise and commitment of a professional to execute what amounts to a second job.
Why would anyone choose that responsibility?
Merced College Trustee Joe G. Gutierrez (Area 5) represents Los Banos and areas west of the city. Gutierrez, a longtime realtor in the Los Banos area, said one of the professors at the college’s Los Banos Campus told him to run for the board in 2012.
“I told him, ‘Why would I want to do that? I have enough trouble,’” joked Gutierrez. “He was laughing at me, but telling me that I would be good at it.”
Gutierrez could see the college needed help at the time, and decided he wanted to contribute to righting the ship. Area 3 Trustee Carmen Ramirez, who represents the north side of Merced up to Merced Falls and Snelling, had a similar experience in 2016.
“I was reading about Merced College in the news for not good things and, when the school was at risk of losing its accreditation, I decided to run,” said Ramirez, an attorney. “There was some dysfunctional infighting on the board at the time. The reputation of the college was being diminished by those distractions.”
By the time Area 6 Trustee Kory Benson, who represents the Chowchilla area and some newer parts of Los Banos, felt compelled to run in 2020, she was inspired by her mother, a former longtime elementary school board member.
“Merced College is very well known in Merced, but maybe not so much in Chowchilla—and I want that to change,” said Benson, a dental hygienist in her day job.
“I want people to walk around town thinking about Merced College first, as the place to get a great education without going too far from home. Because Chowchilla is out of Merced County, that’s where we see some of the disconnect.”
Ramirez, Gutierrez and Benson serve the Merced Community College District (MCCD) with Area 1 Trustee Mario Mendoza, Area 2 Trustee Ernie Ochoa, Area 4 Trustee Sue Chappell, and Area 7 Trustee John Pedrozo.
We recently asked some of them to ruminate on their work and prognosticate a bit about where the college is headed.
Statewide Profile
In 2024, the college kicked off some impressive initiatives. It successfully added the Dreamscape Learn virtual reality laboratory, a first-of-its-kind learning space among California Community Colleges and one of roughly just 10 in the nation. The college also successfully established competency-based education in 2024, accomplishing the feat more quickly and effectively than other colleges throughout the state.
Back in June, the college also received the ultimate affirmation following the latest review by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The ACCJC reaffirmed Merced College’s accreditation, with no violations or compliance requirements, for the maximum term of seven years.
The college deserves the kudos and higher profile it has built both locally and statewide. Ramirez applauded President Chris Vitelli for the stability he has brought to the district and the positive attitude he has for innovation.
“I have served as a member of the California Community College Trustees Board, which allows me to sit on interview committees for state leadership positions,” Ramirez said. “President Vitelli is a standout leader, and it’s amazing to see people at the state level recognize what we’ve always known about him. He’s highly sought after, and while it’s flattering, we’re proud to have him as our president and wouldn’t want to share him with anyone else!
“I think his bold approach and willingness to try things that have never been tried at the community college level allows us to chase opportunities that just weren’t available to us eight years ago.”
And Beyond
Gutierrez is ready to get to work in Los Banos, especially after the passage of Measure P in the 2024 general election. The bond, effectively an extension of the previous bond passed in 2002, earned a remarkable 76% percent of the voter the November election.
“Seventy-six percent is crazy—it’s amazing,” Gutierrez said. “But that’s how great our community is. We’re excited about what’s coming next. We’re going to focus on growing our career technical education (CTE) and local workforce programs, the one-year certificates where you can get in and out with a job at the end of it. So we’ll have a big CTE building, as big as the Ag-IT building on the Merced campus, for welding, mechanics, nursing, and on and on and on.”
Benson feels the board did great work during her first term, which began right before the pandemic hit. They were tested and rose to that occasion, as did the entire college. She wants to continue the good momentum in her second.
“It’s amazing how high the ceiling is for Merced College,” Benson said. “At the same time, we don’t have a ceiling and we’re eager to go higher, getting better and more innovative. It’s always a work in progress. But I never feel like we’re having to work so hard to maintain something or reinvent ourselves, because we always seem to be working on the next cool thing.”
To aspire to be the most innovative community college in the nation does take everyone pulling in the same direction.
“There’s a time commitment (for the board), but it’s not my full-time job,” Ramirez said. “There are people who dedicate their lives to Merced College in a way that makes our work so easy. We get to cut the ribbons and look important on the jumbotron at graduation. But we know that the chairs don’t get set up on their own. We know students don’t get registered and processed by magic. They don’t complete their FAFSAs by chance.
“We’re grateful for every single hour every one of our staff and faculty give. It’s our job to make sure their work is magnified as much as possible. It’s our job as trustees to treat their investment of time and passion with as much care as possible.”
“We’re grateful for every single hour every one of our staff and faculty give. It’s our job to make sure their work is magnified as much as possible. It’s our job as trustees to treat their investment of time and passion with as much care as possible.”
Carmen Ramirez | Merced College Trustee, Area 3