Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration Ronald Gerhard announced his resignation at the September 24 Peralta Board of Trustees meeting.

Gerhard said his resignation was the result of an employment offer from City College of San Francisco (CCSF), and that he had not been actively seeking a new position.

“I wasn’t looking. I was approached and asked if I was interested in the position…I enjoy working at Peralta.”

The Peralta Board of Trustees will meet to decide who Gerhard’s temporary replacement will be. A permanent replacement will be determined shortly afterwards.

Gerhard began working for the Peralta Community College District in July 2010, soon after the district was placed on academic probation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

“We had to fix some of the recommendations that [ACCJC] provided to us with regard to financing some of our long term debts and liabilities as well as restructuring some of our benefit plans for employees,” said Gerhard “ We had to implement new policies and procedures, all of which we’ve successfully accomplished…during that time.”

With Gerhard’s assistance, the district’s academic probation was lifted in June 2011, and the Vice Chancellor has been recruited to CCSF for a similar reason.

The ACCJC announced in July that CCSF’s accreditation would be terminated as of July 2014.

Gerhard’s position at CCSF will be the same as at Peralta, and he has been asked to assist CCSF with regaining their accreditation.

“I know we can do it,” says Gerhard.

Gerhard noted several changes he would like to see in Peralta’s future.

“We implemented a new budget allocation model,” said Gerhard “I would like to see that refined a little bit.”

He also addressed the need for construction and contract practices to be streamlined and for ASB clubs and trusts’ procedural issues to be smoothed out.

Over all, Gerhard said that the Peralta Community College District had little to worry about financially, and that he’s hopeful for its future.

“In short, we’re stable,” said Gerhard “We’re very strong right now.”

At the October 8 Board of Trustees meeting, trustee Bill Withrow said a farewell to Gerhard and expressed his gratitude for his time spent with Peralta.

“From the standpoint of Community College of San Francisco, they’re…extremely fortunate to have the he talent and the intellect and the focus and drive of Ron Gerhard,” said Withrow.

Gerhard’s first day at CCSF is Oct. 21.