The Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees voted Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez as board chair, and Dr. Nancy Greenstein as vice-chair at their Tuesday, Dec. 4 meeting. They will step into their roles effective the first SMC board meeting in 2019, which will be held Tuesday, January 15.
In 2019, Dr. Quiñones-Perez and Dr. Greenstein will lead the seven-member governing board, which includes recently elected and new member Dr. Sion Roy; Dr. Susan Aminoff; Dr. Louise Jaffe; Rob Rader; and Barry Snell (Dr. Greenstein, Dr. Jaffe, and Barry Snell were also reelected in November 2018). Alexandria Boyd, an SMC student, represents the student body on the board; student trustees have an advisory vote. Stepping down from the SMC Board effective December 2018 was Dr. Andrew Walzer, who had served for 12 years as an SMC trustee.
“Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez and Dr. Nancy Greenstein bring a wide breadth of experience and advocacy for community college students into their roles as board chair and vice-chair,” said Dr. SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery. “As new SMC trustee and former SMC Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee vice-chair Dr. Sion Roy takes his seat, and Dr. Andrew Walzer leaves the board after faithfully serving, I look forward to the Board’s continued leadership and support of Santa Monica College’s mission to provide the highest-quality, most accessible education possible to all students!”
Santa Monica College—a “single-college district” known as the Santa Monica Community College District—is governed by the seven-member board elected to four terms by voters within SMC’s district, composed of Santa Monica and Malibu. The student trustee—who serves a one-year term—is elected by SMC students.
Dr. Quiñones-Perez—who has served as a trustee at SMC since 2000—was formerly a counselor at El Camino College. Her counseling experience spans three decades, and includes working with veterans and being a coordinator/counselor for the Puente Program. Among career highlights, in prior leadership roles, she served on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Districtboard for eight years, as well as on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors.
In addition, Dr. Quiñones-Perez has also served in the past as a former president and executive board member and conference co-chair of the California School Boards Association of Latino School Board Members, faculty representative for El Camino College’s Academic Senate, and Budget and Planning Committee and as vice president of El Camino College Faculty Association. She is an alumna of Santa Monica College and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mental Health and Research Methods from California State University, Dominguez Hills; a Masters in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California; and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from UCLA. Dr. Quiñones-Perez was a Fellow of the JFK Harvard School ofGovernment.
Dr. Nancy Greenstein was elected to the SMC Board in 2002. Recently retired as Director of Police Community Services at theUCLA Police Department, she has received national recognition for community policing programs and strategies for bringing together diverse groups and agencies to resolve various issues. She also worked as the public safety administrator in West Hollywood.
Among several community leadership roles, Dr. Greenstein is currently on the board of the Students4Students shelter in Santa Monica, as well as for the Social Justice Learning Institute in Inglewood. She is co-chair emeritus of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, and is a current board member and past president of the Southern California ACLU. Dr. Greenstein has won several awards, including the prestigious national Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award in 2009; State Legislature Woman of the Year Award in 2010; and the UCLA Educational Leadership Award. Dr. Greenstein received a Bachelor’s Degree in education from Boston University; a Master of Social Work with a community organizing specialty from UCLA; and a Doctorate in Education, also from UCLA.
To read the full bios of SMC’s new board chair and vice-chair, as well as that of new member Dr. Sion Roy, and for meeting schedules and more information, please visit: smc.edu/bot. Board meetings are typically held the first Tuesday of each month, with rare exceptions. The public may contact members of the SMC Board by writing c/o Santa Monica College, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405, or by calling the District office at 310-434-4200 and via the Board Coordinator Lisa Rose by email: Rose_Lisa@smc.edu.
