David Viar, current president of American River College, will be Glendale College District’s new superintendent/president.

The recently elected president has many plans for GCC.

“Initially it will be very much about listening and learning from the people who are a part of the community college family,” Viar said. “I would like to get the best sense possible of how people view the college, what they see as improvements that may need to be made, how we can better help our students be successful and after gathering all that information, continue discussions with what things we should be putting in place and what we should be continuing to do to assure we are doing the best job we can.”

Viar will take office on July 1. He currently serves as president of American River College, a position he has held for the past 8 years, and is looking forward to the new changes in his life.

“Glendale Community College is considered one of the best community colleges in the state of California, and it also happens to be located in the city where my son and his wife live,” said Viar, in an enthusiastic tone. He added that he is “very excited about the opportunities to serve the Glendale community.”

Viar’s accomplishments at American River College started with the hiring of new staff members.

“I have had the privilege of hiring about a 140 faculty members and administrators and have been pleased with the diversity of those hires and their high quality. Those are in my view the biggest accomplishments,” said Viar. “The hiring of good people who will continue to serve American River College well.”

But not only that, Viar has also contributed to renovating the college’s facilities.

“We’ve had about $150 million of new facilities and renovated facilities that have really changed the face of American River College,” said Viar, “several significant student success initiatives have allowed us to see continuous improvement in all of the appropriate measures of accountability.”

Viar’s accomplishments have given him a noteworthy standing amongst those around him.

“I am very impressed with the accomplishments of Dr. David Viar,” said GCC Interim Superintendent/President Jim Riggs. “He has been a community college leader in the state for the past 20 or so years. He has been very successful as the president of American River College and prior to that was very successful for 15 years as the Executive Director of the Community College League of California.”

One of the major issues community colleges in the state of California have been facing are major budget cuts which have strongly affected education. Riggs was fast to assure Viar’s credibility on the subject.

“He has been able to find alternative sources of funding and has been able to keep his current institution in a strong fiscal position. I have every confidence that he will be both a strong academic leader as well as a strong fiscal leader for the college,” said Riggs.

Furthermore, Ron Nakasone added his support to this matter.

“I think he will have to lead the college to a better fiscal condition and maintain and improve the academic and student programs within the college,” said Nakasone.

Riggs will be working with Viar during this transitional period at GCC, helping to facilitate his move as much as possible.

“We are compiling a list of items that will need to be transitioned to him. I am also working with the board of trustees and the vice presidents on transition issues. The transition will need to be a team effort,” said Riggs.

Plans have been made and necessary measures for this transitional period are in motion as GCC awaits its new president.

“I have had the privilege of hiring about 140 faculty members and administrators and have been pleased with the diversity of those hires and their high quality. Those are in my view the biggest accomplishments,” Viar said. “The hiring of good people who will continue to serve American River College well.”

Not only that, but Viar has also contributed to renovating the college’s facilities.

“We’ve had about $150 million of new facilities and renovated facilities that have really changed the face of American River College,” Viar said, “several significant student success initiatives have allowed us to see continuous improvement in all of the appropriate measures of accountability.”

Viar’s resumé has given him a noteworthy standing among those around him.

“I am very impressed with the accomplishments of Dr. David Viar,” said GCC Interim Superintendent/President Jim Riggs. “He has been a community college leader in the state for the past 20 or so years. He has been very successful as the president of American River College, and prior to that was very successful for 15 years as the executive director of the Community College League of California.”

One of the major issues community colleges in the state of California have been facing are major budget cuts that have strongly affected education. Riggs was fast to assure Viar’s credibility on the subject.

“He has been able to find alternative sources of funding and has been able to keep his current institution in a strong fiscal position. I have every confidence that he will be both a strong academic leader as well as a strong fiscal leader for the college,” Riggs said.

Executive Vice President of Administrative Services Ron Nakasone added his support to this matter.

“I think he will have to lead the college to a better fiscal condition and maintain and improve the academic and student programs within the college,” said Nakasone.

Riggs will be working with Viar during this transitional period at GCC, helping to facilitate his move as much as possible.

“We are compiling a list of items that will need to be transitioned to him. I am also working with the board of trustees and the vice presidents on transition issues. The transition will need to be a team effort,” Riggs said.

Plans have been made and necessary measures for this transitional period are in motion as GCC awaits its new president.