Butte College
News Announcement

Butte College Names New Superintendent/President

At its April meeting, the Butte-Glenn Community College District Board of Trustees announced its unanimous selection of Virginia L. Guleff as the next Superintendent/President of Butte College. Virginia will become the eighth President of Butte College beginning July 1, 2022. Dr. Samia Yaqub announced her retirement as Superintendent/President effective June 30, 2022.

“The Board of Trustees is pleased to have selected Virginia Guleff as the next Superintendent/President of Butte College after an extensive nationwide search. Virginia brings a wealth of skills to the Butte College presidency and exemplifies a commitment to students as a long-standing educator for 36 years. Her efforts have been instrumental in helping lead the College through the Camp Fire and the pandemic, and her work to pivot the District to online instruction was a challenge she met with great success. She is committed to equity, diversity and inclusiveness and is very much at home with rural communities. She is a visionary with a passion for education and is dedicated to offering opportunities that will enrich the lives of our students,” said Julie Boss, President of the Butte-Glenn Community College District Board of Trustees. “The Board would like to thank Trustee Bill McGinnis for leading the selection effort along with the hard work by members of the selection committee. It was a very competitive process with a qualified slate of finalists.”

Since 2017, Virginia has served as Butte College’s Vice President of Instruction and Accreditation Liaison Officer, where she directed instructional programs including the Economic and Workforce Development Department as well as all accreditation activities. Virginia began in the California community college system in 1986 as a tutor at De Anza College. She has previously worked as a classified employee at De Anza College, a part-time faculty member, a full-time tenured faculty member, ESL Coordinator, and Chair of English, Communication and World Languages in the San Diego Community College District, Dean of Career and Technical Education, Transfer and Basic Skills as well as Vice President of Education and Student Services at Mendocino College and Vice President of Instruction at Solano College. 

Virginia has experience working at the state level as a board member for the Chief Instructional Officers Board, as Co-Chair of the California Community College Curriculum Committee, as an author on the Title 5 language for the implementation of AB 705 and as a Co-Chair with the Statewide Academic Senate and the Chancellor’s Office in the development of a streamlined curriculum approval and certification process for all California Community Colleges. Virginia has been an invited speaker at statewide events such as the Academic Senate Curriculum Institute, the Statewide Guided Pathways Symposium, the Chief Instructional Officer’s Conference, the California Community College Classified Leadership Institute, and the Community College League of California conference.

She served as the Accreditation Liaison Officer at four California community college campuses and has overseen bond construction at multiple campuses. She has served on over 10 ACCJC accreditation visiting teams. Virginia also has experience leading and implementing the development of key institutional documents such as the Strategic Plan, the Mission Statement, the Educational Master Plan and the Enrollment Management Plan. She is committed to equity, diversity and inclusiveness. Specifically in uncovering structural inequities at institutions, which stems from her training and experience working with the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California.

Virginia’s research interests include language acquisition for emerging English dominant speakers, apprenticing students into communities of practice through genre as well as the impact of facilities design on student classroom speaking rights. Virginia has co-authored two textbooks for English language learners. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from San Jose State University and a Masters of Arts in Linguistics from San Diego State University.

“I am truly honored to serve as the next Superintendent/President of Butte College. I am dedicated to the mission of Butte College and the promise to our community to offer a quality educational experience to any person who seeks it. We will continue to focus on inclusive student success, preparing students for careers through our comprehensive degrees, certificates and transfer pathways. Additionally, this is a particularly exciting time for the College as we return many of our classes to on-campus meeting patterns while maintaining a robust online program. There is much exciting work ahead, and I look forward to a continued collaboration with students, faculty, staff and community members as we envision the role of the Butte-Glenn Community College District as an educational leader in the 21^st century,” said Virginia Guleff.

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Butte College serves over 12,000 students annually and offers over 200 certificate and degree programs in Butte and Glenn Counties. The College has the highest transfer rate to CSU, Chico and successfully transfers students to the California State University system, University of California system, and/or private universities.

Mission:
Butte College provides quality education, services, and workforce training to students who aspire to become productive members of a diverse, sustainable, and global society. We prepare our students for life-long learning through the mastery of basic skills, the achievement of degrees and certificates, and the pursuit of career and transfer pathways.