City College of San Francisco Chancellor David Martin announced that he will resign at the end of the academic year.
Martin told the CCSF community last Thursday that he would not seek a contract renewal in June. In an email to CCSF staff and students shared by Board of Trustees President Alan Wong, the chancellor said he disclosed his decision early to “ensure the college and Board have ample time to plan and prepare accordingly.”
The news comes amid a tumultuous year for CCSF as it emerges from the pandemic. Last year, Martin projected that CCSF would face a $3.8 million deficit and laid off 38 full-time tenured and tenure-track professors on that basis, leading to faculty protests and camp-outs.
Martin began his tenure in November 2021 as the college transitioned back to in-person classes. He served as CCSF’s chief financial officer and interim vice chancellor for financial affairs from 2015 to 2017.
Now, his departure follows an unfortunate trend at CCSF: Over the past decade, chancellors have not served in the position for more than a few years at a time. Mark Rocha, CCSF’s chancellor before Martin, was placed on administrative leave in March 2020 after serving three years.
At the time of Martin’s hiring, the Board of Trustees signaled hope that Martin would be a more permanent fixture than his predecessors and that he would work to stabilize the college’s finances in the face of a structural deficit.
He will leave the same year that the Board of Supervisors budget committee, at the request of Supervisor Connie Chan, investigates CCSF’s free tuition program over alleged mismanagement.
But in her announcement, Chan noted that CCSF is “finally fiscally solvent,” and Wong credited that to Martin’s leadership.
Wong said that the chancellor helped to implement several initiatives that allowed the college to achieve “strong financial controls and oversight,” including a budget policy that requires monthly budget updates to the board.
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“During our time working together, the college was able to strengthen our financial controls,” Wong said. “Chancellor Martin provided our college with leadership when the college was faced with a rough patch and helped provide steady leadership to the college when we needed it most.”
Martin did not give a reason for his departure, but Wong said, “I understand that he is exploring new opportunities, and I wish him the best.”
CCSF’s faculty union raised concerns over Martin’s leadership throughout his tenure, alleging fiscal mismanagement.
“The results of Chancellor Martin’s mismanagement of City College’s budget and schedule have been thousands of students being locked out of classes last year and this year,” said Mary Bravewoman, president of AFT 2121, the union representing CCSF’s faculty.
The union pointed to a lack of haste in implementing a resolution that would rehire faculty members laid off last year. The decision to lay off tenured faculty — originally 58 but later reduced to 38 — left the future of the college uncertain as waitlists for popular classes climbed in the fall semester. Many of those instructors were invited to return this year, but CCSF has yet to formally rehire them.
Wong promised “a thorough community engagement process” as the college begins its search for a new chancellor.
Bravewoman said that it is unfortunate Martin chose to resign at this time, but she said she is not surprised by the move.
“David Martin was hired by a board that had a different policy vision — a downward spiral of class cuts, layoffs, and austerity — than the current board majority,” she said. “It appears he was unwilling to adapt his policy approach.”
Bravewoman said the board of trustees leadership will be “as important as ever” as it seeks to replace Martin in the coming months. She hopes the new chancellor will “enrollment demands of the San Francisco community for new job skills, degrees, and hope.”
