After more than six months of searching for its seventh president, Santa Fe Community College last Thursday named Dr. Ana Margarita "Cha" Guzmán to head the school starting in September.
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Guzmán is currently president of Palo Alto College in San Antonio, where SFCC spokeswoman Janet Wise says she helped retain the school's Hispanic students. Wise says Guzmán will be planning to work toward the same goal in Santa Fe. Hispanic graduation rates at SFCC increased from roughly 50 percent in 2007 to 60 percent in 2011, but Wise says there's room for improvement.
"I think she'll be very attuned to the need for Hispanic students," Guzmán tells SFR. "She'll remind everybody who works here of the need to build on the recent data we have."
Currently, Guzmán is a board member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities and recently served on the board of trustees at the College Board, which prepares study aids for the SAT and ACT.
Guzmán was chosen after an extensive search process by an 18-member committee. She will replace Sheila Ortego.
Photo courtesy Hispanic Organization for Public Employees.
