Dear Peralta Community, 

After the appropriate due diligence including reference checks, interviews,and communication with each of the Board of Trustee members, it is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Diana Bajrami will become the Acting President of College of Alameda (COA, effective Monday, September 12, 2022), during President Jones’ initial 6-month reassignment to the district office as Acting Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration.

  Let me provide some highlights as to my decision.

Dr. Bajrami has been a member of the Peralta family since 2001 in various faculty, shared governance leadership, and administrative roles ranging from full-time Economics faculty to Interim Vice President of Student Services at Berkeley City College, to her current position as Vice President of Instruction at COA.  She is an experienced educator and leader who has spent nearly thirty years working to ensure high-quality instruction and equitable student success at both two-year and four-year colleges in the United States and abroad.  Diana is also a proven leader in the development and assessment of measurable student learning outcomes in both student and academic services and has extensive experience in program review, accreditation, organizational management, fiscal stewardship, grant writing, enrollment management, evaluation, and professional development. 

She has been intricately involved in College of Alameda activities such as the co-chair of the College Council, the inaugural Coordinator of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, and was recognized by the college community and the ACCJC team for her outstanding work on continuous quality improvement.  She has also served as a co-chair on the Distance Education and the Professional Development Committees and was the lead trainer in transitioning colleagues to an online teaching & learning platform.  She has also been a member of the campus Facilities and Student Success Committee and has been involved in the district-wide task force to establish program reviews.  Diana was the co-chair of the campus Budget Committee for several years, and in that role, she was recognized for her quantitative and analytical skills in ensuring effective and transparent budgeting practices and processes.

During her tenure as the VPI, COA has made significant improvements in enrollment and budgetary stewardship.  For the first time – in a long time – the college did not overspend its FTEF allocation. Additionally, the college was able to achieve a year-to-year increase in summer enrollment and attained the highest productivity. Given enrollment is a critical component of our long-term fiscal health, these accomplishments within a short period of time bode well for COA – and the district’s future.     

Diana is an educational leader with an uncompromising commitment to educational leadership, student success, and educational equity.  She has been recognized several times as the Faculty of the Year at College of Alameda for her demonstrable role in fostering educational excellence.

I feel that the College of Alameda will continue to move forward in a positive direction under Dr. Bajrami’s leadership, so please join me in welcoming her into the executive leadership team.   

Jannett N Jackson, PhD
Interim Chancellor