STOCKTON -- The two finalists selected by the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees to potentially serve as the College’s 12th superintendent/president will appear in a public forum.
The finalists are Delta College Acting Superintendent/President Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson and City College of San Francisco Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lisa Cooper Wilkins.
A pair of public forums featuring each finalist is scheduled for Monday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. They will take place at Atherton Auditorium on Delta's Stockton campus. You can also access the forum via Zoom at bit.ly/SJDCPresForums
Delta employees, students, and members of the general public are all welcome to attend in person or watch the Zoom broadcast. Per College policy, those attending in person must wear masks indoors and provide proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event.
Anyone may also submit questions for the finalists. Questions must be submitted ahead of time at bit.ly/SJDCPresQuestions. The deadline to send questions is the close of business on Thursday, April 28.
Following are biographies for each finalist:
Lawrenson
Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson has 28 years of community college experience in a variety of roles including serving as a tenured English and multicultural humanities professor, instructional dean, vice president of instruction, and vice president of student services.
Most recently, since September 2021, she has served San Joaquin Delta College as its acting Superintendent/President. She has expertise in culturally relevant curriculum design, institutional equity and inclusion, integrated strategic planning and governance, innovative professional development, and student-centered leadership.
Aguilera Lawrenson completed her general education requirements at American River College, and she holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in English.
She also earned her Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in community college leadership from Oregon State University. Her dissertation was titled Hispanic Community College Student Empowerment: Developmental English Participants Describe Their Educational Experiences. She is proud that both of her parents and both of her children attended community college.
In her various roles, Lawrenson led assessment, curriculum, accreditation, basic skills, student equity, student success and support, governance, and guided pathways. She has also served as campus equity officer, Title IX officer, and trained faculty, staff, administrators, and equal employment opportunity representatives in equitable hiring policies and procedures.
In 2011, she was awarded the California Community College Dr. John W. Rice Diversity and Equity Award. In her current role as Acting Superintendent/President at Delta College, she has worked closely with the Board of Trustees and all college constituencies to serve Delta’s students and its communities.
Wilkins
Cooper Wilkins was appointed the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at City College of San Francisco in 2020 with administrative oversight for Enrollment Services, Outreach and Community Partnerships (Admissions and Records, Assessment, Outreach, Community Partnerships, and the Bridge to Success Program); Student Success (Counseling Services, Retention, and the Metro Program); Financial Aid, Scholarships and Special Programs (Cal-Works, Veterans Services, Guardian Scholars and the HARTS Program) as well as Student Engagement and Wellness (a comprehensive Health Center, Student Conduct, Student Activities, Student Clubs and Organizations and Student Government).
From 2015-2020, she was the Assistant Superintendent / Vice President of Student Services at San Joaquin Delta College overseeing Enrollment Services and Student Development; Counseling and Special Services; the District Police Department, the CalWORKs Program, and the Hazel Hill Child Development Center. She joined the District in 2014 as the Dean of Enrollment Services and Student Development.
At University of the Pacific, she served as the Associate Vice President for Student Life (2010-2014), the Interim Assist Provost for Diversity (2007-2008) and the Director of the Educational Resource Center (2005-2008) and Coordinator of Disability Services (2002-2005). In Philadelphia, she was the Dean of the Educational Support Services Division at the Community College of Philadelphia (2008-2010). Lisa is a culturally competent, race-conscious leader, who has spent her career in roles that foster access, equity, inclusion, opportunity, and success for underrepresented and underserved students.
Honors that she has received include the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the Stockton Women’s Collaborative; the Distinguished Career/Professional Service Award from Delta Kappa Gamma International Society, California in 2020; the Education Champion Award in 2018 from the San Joaquin Pride Center; the NAACP’s Medgar Evers Freedom Fighter Award in 2017; and the Susan B. Anthony Woman of Achievement Award by the San Joaquin County Commission on the Status of Women in 2012.
Wilkins completed her doctoral studies at the George Washington University in Higher Education Administration Program; her dissertation was entitled Disability as Diversity: Assessing the Perceptions of Students with Physical Disabilities Regarding Access and Equal Opportunity in Postsecondary Education. She possesses a Master of Arts in Psychological Services and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Counseling from Marymount University, a Master of Science in Counseling and Human Relations from Villanova University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and International Relations from Goucher College.
She currently serves on the RP Group’s African American Transfer Tipping Point Study Advisory Board and just recently concluded service on the boards of the San Joaquin Community Foundation, Delta Health Care and NASPA's James E. Scott Academy.
Wilkins remains actively engaged in public service with a focus on education including early literacy initiatives as well as scholarship and mentoring programs for local high school students.
