2008 Woodie Awards
College President Reflects On His First Year At Helm
Sindy Diaz
Issue date: 8/25/04 Section: LIFE
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On June 1, 2003, Dr. Michael J. Viera became the sixth president of Citrus College. Founded in 1915, Citrus is celebrating its 90th birthday. The oldest community college in Los Angeles County, Citrus serves about 12,000 students in the San Gabriel Valley.
As Viera began his first year, the state of California was in the process of recalling its governor and was a record $35 billion in debt.
In his first major address delivered to a receptive audience of faculty, staff and administrators on Aug. 15, 2003, Viera outlined goals for his first year.
Viera articulated five key issues for the college: the budget crisis, accreditation, the possibility of a facilities bond, federal grants and the hiring of new faculty.
So how has Citrus College fared thus far under Viera's leadership?
"He had a lot of ideas that he tried to put into effect that benefited the students and the college," said Ruben Hoyos Jr., past president of the Associated Students of Citrus College. "Overall he has had a positive impact on the college."
The budget was one of the first matters of business that Viera tackled. His goal was to obtain more revenue for the campus. In subsequent months he spearheaded Measure G, a $121 million facilities bond approved by local voters on the March 2, 2004, ballot.
Sales of bonds will provide the college with $121 million for the improvement of the campus over the next decade.
"The bond was definitely something that needed to be done," Viera said. "We were finding that we couldn't qualify for state money unless we had a local bond to match it."
The Measure G bond campaign generated campus-wide interest.
"Thanks to everyone's effort and dedication, the passage of the bond has set us up for the next 10 years in terms of major facilities that we are going to be building," Viera said.