Dr. Charles “Kale” Braden, former dean of Fine and Applied Arts at American River College, has been the vice president of Instruction at Delta College for two months as of Dec. 5.
Braden was picked for the VPI position last month over Sam Agdasi, current dean of Technology and Health Division at Mt. San Antonio College in Los Angeles County, and Dr. Rojelio Vasquez, founder and CEO of HBI/RV Associates.
“It was a long process getting here,” said Braden. “I first began to be aware that there might be an opening almost a year before the job became open, when Dr. Lisa Lawrenson moved into the interim presidency position. At that point, I talked it over with my wife and we both decided that this would be a good move, both in terms of where we wanted to be.”
Braden has been in the community college system for a long time and he felt that Delta was the right choice.
“I’ve been in the community college system for about 24 years now,” said Braden. “The reason why I wanted to be here at Delta is because the more I looked at Delta, the more I felt that Delta is the right size. While there has been some turmoil over the past two years when it comes to the administration and getting things up, the people that are here are so incredibly committed to this college and so incredibly committed to the students and so incredibly committed to this community. And, that’s what I wanted to be a part of.”
Lawrenson has worked with Braden before.
“He was an excellent leader who was focused on student success and excellence in instruction,” said Lawrenson. “Working with him in his new role at Delta College, I have seen how his skill sets have continued to grow in the past few years. He is a pleasure to have on the executive cabinet, and I am confident his emphasis on student success and instructional excellence will serve Delta well.”
Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Student Services Dr. Lonita Cordova has also worked with Braden prior to his journey at Delta.
Both of them participated in two workshops together at the Association of California Community College Association (ACCCA): one a professional development for deans in the community college system, and another for strategic enrollment management.
“He’s great, really dynamic, he’s a good speaker and he’s just a strong leader,” said Cordova. “He really really understands the community college system, which is refreshing. As a vice president of student services, he’s kind of like I’m the left hand, he’s the right hand for the president. And, I think that moving into a working relationship with him has been invaluable, especially where we are trying to go as an institution.”
As for Braden’s main goal for the future, he believes that coming in as VPI and changing the institution isn’t a goal for him. His main goal is to help students at Delta and guide them on the right path.
“My role as a VP isn’t to come in and change the institution,” said Braden. “My goal is to help the institution realize the vision that they already put forth in their strategic minds. So, the people who fail most spectacularly in roles like this are the ones that come in and say I’m going to do this and I’m far more interested in coming into this role and asking where do we need to go and figure out what we need to go there.”