In a Thursday afternoon email announcement to the district community, Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson announced that Melanie Dixon will be CoA’s new president.
Dixon has a long career serving in higher education, including her time as president of American River College, part of the Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento. Currently, she serves as Executive Director for Project Attain, a nonprofit that helps working-aged adults navigate education.
The appointment is pending contract negotiations and board approval, according to PCCD’s Executive Director of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations, Mark Johnson.
The PCCD Board of Trustees will ratify Dixon’s contract sometime in June, according to Johnson.
She is expected to start by July 1.
Dixon’s appointment is the first permanent president appointment for the college since 2020, when Nathaniel Jones III became president.
After serving for two years, Jones was appointed Acting Vice Chancellor of District Finance and Administration in September 2022 by then Interim Chancellor Jannett Jackson. Diana Bajrami was subsequently appointed by Jackson as Acting President to fill in for Jones.
In March, Bajrami stepped down from her position as College President, and Pamela Luster was appointed Acting President as the permanent search began.
Dixon was one of three finalists for the position.
CoA has kept a public schedule of events and planning for their president search over the past few months. Events included a March 11 campus listening session and a May 16 public forum where candidates were asked a series of questions sourced from the Peralta community.
In the announcement email, Gilkerson praised Dixon’s experience, her “laser focus” on basic needs, and her diversity, equity, and inclusion centered leadership.
These qualities “are what COA and the Peralta District need at this time to inspire students to fulfill their highest aspirations and to ensure the college and community continue to thrive,” Gilkerson wrote.
Related
Laughs, questions at CoA president search listening session
