Dr. Cynthia Azari, Fresno City College president, is a finalist for the position of president of Riverside City College.
Dr. Azari is competing with four others — Jill Boyle, former president of Florida Keys Community College; Floyd “Bud” Amann, president of Corning Community College in New York; Sharon Blackman, vice chancellor for Educational Affairs and for Dallas County Community College District in Texas; and, Anita Kaplan, former president of Miami-Dade College’s Health Science Campus.
She is scheduled to visit the Riverside campus on Nov. 8 and 9 for a round of interviews with the Chancellor and district leadership. Meetings with constituency faculty and staff groups, and a public forum, round out the forums.
Faculty and staff at FCC have shown their support for Dr. Azari and her candidacy for RCC president. Ernie Garcia, president of the Classified Senate at FCC praised Azari for outstanding leadership and mentoring abilities. Garcia said Dr. Azari is very supportive of classified staff, faculty, and students. “I think any college would be lucky to have her,” he said.
In a letter dated Nov.1, signed by its President Jaime Duran and Vice-President Graciela Ramirez, the Latino Faculty and Staff Association urged Chancellor Deborah Blue and the SCCCD Board of Trustees “to do everything in their respective power to urge Dr. Azari to remain in her current position, if she were selected by the other college as their next president.” The letter also commended Dr. Azari for being a stabilizing force during her tenure as president.
Dr. Azari has served as president of FCC since Jan. 2009. Before her presidency at FCC, she was vice chancellor for Workforce Development and Educational Services for the State Center Community College District, from 2007 to 2008.
Previous leadership positions include serving as president of Butler County Community College in Pennsylvania from 2002-2007, and as vice president of Instruction at Olympic College, in Washington State from 1995-2002.
Azari earned a B.A. in Government from Huston Tillotson College, in Texas, an M.A. in Educational Administration, and an M.S. in Industrial Relations from West Virginia University. She also holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, Washington.
“She is so nice and caring that it would be a hard void to fill,” said Daniel Gai, president of Associate Student Government at FCC. Gai said he was shocked when he found out about Azari’s possible departure. It was an emotional and sentimental moment because of the personal relationships he has formed while working with the college president.
Gai said that at first, he was afraid of the unanswered questions and unfinished plans that Dr. Azari would leave behind, but that he found comfort in the strength of the school in the faculty and staff. He is confident the college will prevail and stay on its successful track.
“Dr. Azari has managed to bring faculty, staff, students and especially the community together as one seamless entity,” stated the letter by the Latino Faculty and Staff Association. “This is the type of leadership a college needs in order to stay strong and student centered.”
