San Mateo County Community College District names new interim chancellor

Moreno will fill in as interim chancellor, beginning April 1, when current Chancellor Mike Claires is slated to retire after nearly 40 years serving the district. Moreno is a 25-year veteran of higher education, having served as dean of educational programs, an adjunct faculty and vice president of the School of Extended Learning at Santa Barbara City College for more than 13 years before becoming president of Skyline College in 2020.

Moreno, while serving at SBCC, was a founding director of the Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, one of the leading institutes for entrepreneurship in California. She holds a bachelors in cultural anthropology University of California, Santa Barbara, and a doctorate from Santa Barbara College of Law.

“Having devoted the majority of my career to higher education, I am humbled by the trust bestowed upon me by the Board of Trustees,” Moreno said in the press release. “As the district’s newest caretaker, I will work with our stakeholders and community to ensure that our nationally recognized college district sets the example in our state for progressive and equitable educational opportunities for our most disproportionately impacted student populations that works to remove barriers to their success.”

Moreno will fill the post until the district selects Claire’s permanent replacement. That process was already underway but was derailed after a candidate publicly announced he would be withdrawing from the process, causing the other two top candidates to also withdraw, Petrides said in the press release.

“The board plans to restart the permanent selection process,” Petrides said. “Given San Mateo County Community College District’s many strengths we expect to have a robust pool of highly qualified candidates from which to select our permanent Chancellor to lead the District into its second century of serving all San Mateo County residents.”