Cañada Vice President of Student Services Finalist Candidates & Forums

Dear Cañada Community,

As you know, Cañada College is searching for a new permanent Vice President of Student Services. We are pleased to announce five finalists:

René Alvarez

Dr. René Alvarez is a seasoned higher education administrator with over 12 years of experience, currently serving as the Dean of Academic Success and Student Equity at San José City College. He has been instrumental in driving transformative student services initiatives that have significantly improved outcomes for underserved and disproportionately impacted students. His leadership, characterized by a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, has earned him multiple awards, including the 2024 ACCCA Award for Progress in Diversity, the SJECCD 2023 LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award, and the 2022 CAPED Administrator of the Year. His leadership extends to managing a $10 million budget, securing over $7 million in local, state, and federal grants.

Dr. Alvarez has served as faculty teaching courses on career development, and the intersection of race/ethnicity with the critical components of the criminal justice system. He is a published scholar on first-year experience instruction, trans student narratives, and at-risk student success.  The Journal of Applied Research in Community Colleges will publish Dr. Alvarez's practice brief on operationalizing campus equity in Fall 2024. He has also presented on topics such as systemic racism, student equity, and academic resilience at conferences nationwide. Additionally, Dr. Alvarez is deeply committed to community service, currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Bill Wilson Center, a leading provider of social services in the Bay Area.

Dr. Alvarez credits his Cuban heritage and first-generation experiences for shaping his academic and professional journey. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Florida International University. He has also earned a Master of Education in Human Resource Studies from Colorado State University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Career and Workforce Education from the University of South Florida.
 

Sam Morgan

Sam Morgan earned his B.A. from Washington State University and his M. Ed. in School Counseling from Central Washington University. Sam brings an empathetic, solution-focused, and equity minded approach to leadership. He has 12 years of community college experience, with six of those years serving in the capacity of a Student Services Dean. Mr. Morgan has actively led various campus-wide initiatives: Strategic Enrollment Management, Drop for Non-Payment, Retention and Completion Interventions, Managing Fraudulent Enrollment, and Satisfying Accreditation Standards. Additionally, he has a history of building effective partnerships with the K-12 system, social service agencies, and non-profit organizations. Mutually beneficial services in the community have included admission application workshops, financial aid and college access presentations, culturally relevant programming, expanding dual enrollment, and community-based ESL instruction. Collaborators have included public libraries, Catholic Charities, Goodwill, community centers, and places of worship. 

Sam currently serves as the Dean of Enrollment Services at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, CA. Outside of work, he enjoys running ultra-marathons, attending standup comedy shows, and traveling to visit family and friends.

Lizette Bricker

Lizette Bricker (She/Her) has over 20 years of student services experience in K-12, community college and four-year university level. Most recently, her experience includes over 10 years in community college leadership and administration. She is currently serving as Vice President of Student Services at Ohlone College. Prior to Ohlone College, she served as Dean of Enrollment Services and Support Programs at College of San Mateo (CSM), and Acting Vice President of Student Services during the height of the pandemic. Prior to that Lizette’s other roles have included Interim Dean of Counseling and Program Supervisor for a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Title V grant at Cañada College. She also served as a High School Counselor at Desert Mirage High School, Adjunct Counselor for General Counseling, Disabled Student Program and Services, and EOPS at College of the Desert. She was also an English Adjunct Faculty, teaching English Composition, Writing and Literature both at College of the Desert and Brandman University. She began her career at CSU San Bernardino as a College Recruiter, and also worked for UC Riverside in their Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP). 

She’s been actively involved with the Association of California Community College Administrators (ACCCA) as a team leader for their Mentor Program. Through the Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, she was trained and participated as a Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Coach. 

Lizette earned her BA from San Diego State University and her MA and MS from California State University, San Bernardino. She was born and raised in Indio, CA. Lizette is a proud Latinx, first-generation, community college transfer student. It was her participation in the EOPS program that was the foundation to realizing her educational goals, an experience that solidified her commitment to support programs and services at the community college level.      

Lizette is a mother of two, Lucas and Sofia, and is married to her partner, Chris. She enjoys good food, discovering new restaurants, and spending time with family and friends.  She also has a passion for traveling, reading, music, dancing Ballet Folklorico and listening to podcasts.  
 

JP Bareng Schumacher

JP Schumacher understands the power of California community colleges. When his family struggled financially, JP witnessed his mother’s return to higher education in her 40s via community college. Thanks to remarkable nursing and student services faculty and staff, JP’s mom graduated from the El Camino College registered nursing program. Their lives were forever positively changed. When he enrolled at El Camino, JP experienced how a community college can unlock powerful possibilities himself. 

JP received his associate degree in psychology from El Camino College, Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from UCLA, and Master of Public Administration degree from University of La Verne. He possesses fourteen years of progressively responsible administration experience- four years within the UC system and a decade at California community colleges- with titles including coordinator, director, dean, and vice president.

Possessing considerable student services management breadth, most of JP’s experience has focused on increasing equitable college access and success for minoritized populations. This focus is reflected in his proudest accomplishments: creating a Mana program to support Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students, launching a Social Justice & Equity Center, and expanding DSPS services. JP recognizes those accomplishments were only possible through intentional collaboration with campus constituents and community members. 

JP is honored and excited to be considered for Vice President of Student Services at Cañada College. As a queer, multiracial individual with a disability, JP personally understands the importance of racial equity, humanity, and justice within education. Informed by this understanding, his leadership approach is collaborative and student-centered. He looks forward to applying this approach and forming partnerships with faculty, classified professionals, students, administrators, and the community to support student success at Cañada.

When he’s not working, JP spends time with his husband and rambunctious Labrador, listens to Final Fantasy VII Lo-fi music while reading, and gets his daily 10,000 steps in. JP has a penchant for discussions on critical student development theory while eating maple donuts, believing the combination to be potent.

JP’s journey reflects the transformative power of community colleges. He remains committed to ensuring that power remains easily accessible to the communities the colleges serve.
 

Luis Escobar

Dr. Luis Escobar has more than 18 years of experience in higher education in a wide range of positions including Classified Professional, Counseling faculty, Dean of Counseling and most recently as Acting Vice President of Student Services. In July, 2023, Dr. Escobar was selected as Acting Vice President of Student Services at Skyline College. As Acting Vice President of Student Services, Dr. Escobar collaboratively developed and executed a comprehensive strategic plan for Student Services that advances the college’s educational mission and priories with strategic focus on 1) access to proactive student engagement data 2) Implementing Anti-Racist Education practices 3) focus on promoting a thriving learning and work environment and 4) fiscal stability across Student Services. The following are some of the examples of the progress that has been made in executing the strategic vision:

• Designed and implemented Anti-Racist Forum as part of strategy to implement practices across Student Services
• In collaboration with Student Services Dean leadership team led development of multi-year strategy to implement Tableau Data dashboards that will fundamentally change how we are able to proactively engage and support students that most need the support to scale.
• Successfully consolidated Student Services budget needs and secured multi-year funding support to bridge the gap.  

Dr. Escobar’s experience includes work in administration, counseling, and teaching at high school, community colleges, and graduate programs. Dr. Escobar has a wide range and depth of experience regarding fiscal management, strategic planning, vision development, leading equity and anti-racist efforts, program evaluation, outreach, training and supervision, student life and leadership, and in advancing program development and innovation to scale. His work as an educator has been anchored in striving for educational equity and critical consciousness. In doing this work Dr. Escobar relies on a culture grounded in trust, innovation, respect, open and honest communication, and strategic planning to collectively strive for equitable student success outcomes.

Dr. Escobar was a first-generation college student that earned his Associate Degree from Contra Costa College, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Masters of Science in Counseling, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University. 

To ensure our campus hears from each finalist candidate, we will hold live in-person Forums November 12-15. Links to register for the in-person forums are below.

While the forums will be conducted live in person, the questions for the candidates will be gathered in advance with the consultation of leadership from Student Senate, Classified Senate and Academic Senate.

All forums will be recorded and available for viewing after the live events. These recordings will be shared in a follow up campus wide email which will also include forms for you to share your feedback. The feedback forms will be live after each forum. The deadline to submit all feedback forms will be Monday, November 25, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Thank you in advance for your participation and feedback. We value your input.