Santiago Canyon College President to Step Down

Dean Strenger, the only president Santiago Canyon College has had, will step down at the end of July to become a math professor.

Edward Hernandez Jr., chancellor of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, said Wednesday that he and the board wanted Strenger to continue as president.

“Our board approved his reassignment reluctantly . . . and the only reason was that he requested it,” Hernandez said. “He’s absolutely a wonderful person, and we have done whatever we can to convince him not to leave.”

Strenger, 59, said he had planned to retire this year, but because of changes in the state retirement system and for personal reasons, he decided to return to the classroom for two or three years.

Strenger said he thought the time was right for him to step down. The college has been operating on its own for two years and should find out its accreditation status in a week or two from the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges.

Strenger became president of Santiago Canyon on July 1, 1997, the date it ended its status as a satellite campus of Santa Ana College.

He began his career in education as a junior and senior high math teacher in Papillion, Neb. After teaching and working as an administrator at colleges in Oklahoma and Illinois, he served as dean of Santa Ana College’s science and technology division from 1975 to 1992.

He then served as the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s vice chancellor in charge of what was then the satellite campus in east Orange.

The Rancho Santiago board voted at its Dec. 13 meeting to accept Strenger’s resignation as president. The district will soon begin a nationwide search for a successor.

Strenger is paid $115,421 annually and will take a cut when he returns to teaching.

He said he hopes to use computers, CD-ROMs and other technology to help students having trouble with algebra. The math requirement is the biggest hurdle for community college students transferring to four-year schools, he said.

Asked what advice he had for his successor, Strenger replied, “Patience. And be very careful in establishing priorities.”