By Clyde Noel

Martha Kanter, the new chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, felt right at home when she spoke to the Los Altos Rotary Club last Thursday. Not only is she a friendly Rotarian, but she has a style of openness and accessibility as chancellor of the third largest community college district in the state.

“The role of chancellor is to represent everyone, and this can only be done through collaboration,” Kanter said. “I seek to infuse a spirit of openness and collegiality in the six cities in our district.”

In her speech on opening day for the fall term, Aug. 18, Kanter spoke about meeting a former trustee who emphasized the value of the district’s legacy and gave her a long list of “must-do’s” for the future. Prominent among those was the urgent need to keep the doors open to every student who could benefit from classes and support programs.

“Admission is simple, even though 85 percent of the students are not prepared for college-level English and mathematics,” Kanter said. “A recent student body survey revealed that 1,500 students want to move from the welfare system to work, and 3,000 of our students with disabilities have special needs.”

Among other demographics, in the fall of 2002, 26.6 percent of the students were Asian, 10.2 percent Hispanic, 3.1 percent Filipino, 3 percent black, 29.5 percent white and 24.6 percent unrecorded. The youngest student is 14 and the oldest students are in their 80s, while 25 percent are in the age group 20-24.

What Kanter is most proud of is that 22.8 percent of the students transfer to four-year colleges after obtaining associate’s degrees.

Kanter is well known in the area since she was president of De Anza College the past 10 years. Prior to that she was vice president of instruction and student services at San Jose City College and vice chancellor of policy analysis and research for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

She holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of San Francisco, and a master’s degree with a concentration in clinical psychology and public practice from Harvard University. She received her undergraduate degree in sociology from Brandeis University.

When Kanter was appointed chancellor, Mary Mason, president of the board, said, “Her vision, local and statewide leadership and dedication to our students is remarkable. She will lead the district through our current challenges and into a bright and innovative future.”

Kanter remarked that California is at an economic crossroads. In decades past, access to higher education was a given, but that is no longer so. California’s financial and political quagmire has had a profound impact on the availability of an affordable college education.

“Our students are forced to take fewer classes because enrollments are capped by the state, and that puts an enormous responsibility on us,” Kanter said. “With reduced funding from the state, we must restructure our organization in order to preserve the quality of our programs and services.”

The district has canceled weekend classes. No hourly employees are hired anymore, as another measure to balance the budget.

The district is doing more with less.

“In the future, the state should give more meaningful control to local boards and stop micromanagement from Sacramento,” Kanter said. “Increased student success with fewer resources is our greatest challenge and one that we must undertake because we owe it to our students, the community, future generations and ourselves.”