Delta College trustee prepares for new role
Lodi’s Charles Jennings will be sworn in on Tuesday to represent students on board
After defeating fellow candidate Diane Oren in the Nov. 6 general election, Charles Jennings of Lodi will be sworn in as trustee of San Joaquin Delta College Area 4 on Tuesday.
“I hope to help the college continue to grow, increase student enrollment and help students become successful and enter the workforce,” he said.
One way Jennings plans to increase student enrollment is by expanding Delta’s community outreach.
“I want to allow people to become more aware of the programs and services available through the college,” he said.
He also plans to learn how the board operates, develop relationships with his fellow trustees and encourage more community outreach.
“I plan to work with my colleagues and hopefully work toward developing service centers in the Lodi/Galt area and possibly in the Manteca/Tracy area, so that there will be more places where people can go to get guidance and knowledge about college,” Jennings said.
Having worked in education for more than 40 years — the last 28 of which he spent at Delta — Jennings says his career has prepared him to serve Delta as a trustee in the coming years.
“I’m very, very familiar with the operations of the college and how it works, and I’ve got some really strong relationships built with members of the school community,” he said.
Jennings began his career at
Delta College as a music professor and band director from
1989 to 2005. From 2000 to 2005, he also served as dean of Delta’s fine arts division.
From 2005 to 2012, Jennings served as dean of general education and transfers, and from 2012 to 2017 he served as dean of student learning and assessment.
Although he will represent constituents from five counties, Jennings said that having lived in Lodi since 1989 allows him to better represent the area as trustee.
“As a Lodi resident, I’ve made a lot of relationships here in Lodi and I’m very acutely aware of the interests that the Lodi area has with regards to the college,” he said.
Bill Huyett, a former Lodi Unified School District superintendent who advocated for a Delta campus in the Lodi area, also believes Jennings’ experience as both a professor and a dean of the college will serve him well as a trustee.
“One thing I know he’s talked about is offering more classes in Lodi, and I think that’s a great start,” Huyett said.