San Jose City College President Michael Burke has quit. He has been hired as the new president of Milwaukee Area Technical College in Wisconsin and was appointed on Jan. 6.

“I want everyone to know that I leave city college with a heavy heart,” Burke wrote in a college-wide e-mail. “I want to thank each of you who have made me feel at home here and who have helped me feel a part of the city college family.”

“We had a fantastic group of applicants, and Dr. Burke’s broad experience in a number of colleges really set him apart,” MATC District Board Chairperson Lauren Baker said on the MATC Web site.

MATC’s board unanimously approved a two-year contract for Burke that will pay him an annual salary of $215,000. He also will receive $9,600 per year for a vehicle allowance, $850 per month for retirement savings and 20 vacation days per year, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Before applying at MATC, Burke was the second finalist at Broome Community College in Binghamton N.Y., where he applied during the fall.

Burke served as SJCC president for three years, starting in 2007. He was recommended by Chancellor Rosa Perez ­— who is on medical leave — and hired by the Board of Trustees, he said.

Prior to working at SJCC, he served as president of North Idaho College for nine years.

Before that, he worked in the Dallas County Community College District in Texas, for 13 years. While there, he served in different positions of dean and chairman, he said.
The San Jose Evergreen Community College District is “facing challenging times, including significant budget reductions resulting from state funding cuts,” according to a message from Acting Chancellor Jeanine Hawk, on the districts Web site. “Questions were recently raised regarding previous operating practices in the district.” There is a current investigation of allegations that Perez, among other board members, have lavishly made misappropriate use of district money, as the ABC-7-I-team reported in November.
Burke said that the reason he has applied for other presidential jobs are “personal reasons ... family reasons.” He declined to give specific reasons.

“No, don’t want to. No, thank you,” Burke said.

Some say that Burke is trying to flee from the difficult situation the district is in.
“Why did he want to leave so badly?” said Steve Hill, 41, photojournalism major. “He applied to New York for family reasons, and now he’s going to Wisconsin for family reasons. Where is his family?”

“He has not even been here for four years,” said an SJCC faculty member, who preferred to remain anonymous. “He is now trying to find another job, to leave us behind with all the baggage.”

“No one has said that to me,” Burke said. “I guess I don’t see it that way.”

In the three years Burke served as president, he oversaw an enrollment increase of 16 percent, reported the Journal Sentinel.

“It was rewarding to have accomplished student growth.” Burke said ,“Enrollment is up and students appreciate our work to help them.”

He also “took part in a major instructional rebuilding program,” as the Journal Sentinel reported.

One memory Burke will take with him is meeting Dolores Huerta — civil rights pioneer who worked alongside Cesar Chavez for farm worker rights.

“She is one of the those national treasures you read about,” he said.

Another is a very fond memory of the late poet and educator Reginald Franklin Lockett, who was instructor of language arts for 20 years at SJCC.

“I met him when I was interviewing here for a job... I was wondering around trying to find the presidents office and I ran into him,” Burke said. “A couple of days after I got hired, he dropped off a couple volumes of his poetry and left them on my desk. Those things you don’t forget.”

Burke’s last day at SJCC was Jan. 22, according to an e-mail by acting chancellor Jeanine Hawk. Vice-president of Academic Affairs Arturo Reyes is filling in as interim president while the search for a president continues.

Isabel Macias, the school president’s secretary, has reported to six interim presidents and presidents, including Burke, in the course of her 12 years.

“I hope that the next president comes and sees how things work from all perspectives before trying to change things dramatically,” Macias said. “Though there is always room for improvement, it happens by first seeing how things are done by those who do them. Trust, honesty and integrity ... would be wonderful.”