After five years as a full-time faculty member at Cosumnes River College, Business Professor Man Phan, chair of the business department, was recently appointed to the California Board of Governors.

Phan has been extremely active at CRC, bringing years of experience as a member of local government and as a marketing executive.

Phan also serves as faculty tri-chair for the Dual Enrollment Task Force, which explores options for offering college education to high school students. Through this and many more initiatives, Phan has worked to provide clear education pathways for students attending  college.

“Students could be spending five or six years here completing a degree,” Phan said. “We want to push students toward, ‘Hey, this is kind of the pathway for business,’ rather than jumping from business to social sciences to chemistry.”

In December, Phan submitted an application to earn a seat on the BOG. According to the California Community Colleges website, the BOG is made up of 17 members who set policies and provide guidance for the 72 districts and 113 community colleges in California.

Two of these seats are reserved for faculty, one of which Phan was appointed to on March 17. He has now started his two-year term.

“I look forward to my two years of service,” Phan said. “I am honored, but in the meantime humbled by the opportunity to serve.”

Phan said the BOG must have two faculty seats that rotate and serve for a total of two years.

“Typically, once a person is appointed, that person is reappointed,” said Phan. “The person who was my predecessor was not re-appointed in this case; therefore, I assumed the position.”

Phan has already begun working on initiatives that would affect all California community colleges. These include guided pathways to give students clear, educational directions, a large grant to help prepare students for their career of choice and the Promise Innovation Initiative, which would help students to graduate faster while incurring less debt.

“My role is to represent the collective voice of the 56,000 faculty,” Phan said. “We will deliberate, discuss and decide on policies and initiatives that would affect the 2.1 million students.”

Phan said that he will serve on the BOG until January 2019, when his seat will be made vacant.

“Come January 2019 when my term is up, a new governor comes in, and he may appoint a new person,” Phan said.

The BOG will deliberate and decide on many different issues that concern California community colleges.

For example, if the BOG were to decide on offering bachelor’s degrees, this decision would be applicable for all the community college districts in California, Phan said.

Phan said that he is excited for the opportunity to serve, but that he will remember his roots.

“Whatever I do, whether it’s with BOG or throughout my travels,” Phan said, “I still remember I am from CRC.”