News Release

CONTACT: Della Elliott, GCCCD Public Information,
(619) 644-7690, della.elliott@gcccd.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               April 28, 2008

At a Glance

College district’s new vice chancellor of business services no stranger to budget difficulties

Financial chief a longtime GCCCD employee

EL CAJON – Sue Rearic, the new chief business officer for the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, comes aboard at a particularly challenging time as the state’s dire financial straits foretell deep cuts in the college district’s own finances.

“Her 25 years of excellence serving in this district’s administrative and fiscal operations, as well as her interim oversight of district business services, make Sue Rearic highly qualified for this critical position,” said Chancellor Omero Suarez. “This is especially important during trying times when the district is striving to make state-mandated cuts with as little direct impact on students as possible.  She is well-versed in the intricacies of the yearly budget cycle that begins with the governor’s introduction of the budget in January and concludes with the district’s passage of its final budget, typically in early fall. She will continue to serve the district well as we move into the future.”

Sue Rearic has witnessed similar challenges in her two decades employed in the business offices of the district, and before that, both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges. During the dozen years she was the No. 2 fiscal administrator as an associate vice chancellor and controller, the district weathered several budget crises, managing to maintain its reserves and avoiding layoffs and significant reductions in class offerings.

She concedes the state’s current budget predicament is particularly tough.

“These are challenging times for community colleges from a budget standpoint,” said Rearic, whose appointment as vice chancellor business services was unanimously approved by the governing board in March.  “In the current 2007-2008 budget year, this district is having to absorb a mid-year reduction of $1.4 million and the next budget year promises budget cuts even more significant.”

In addition to managing a $300 million budget, Rearic’s responsibilities as the district’s new head of business and financial services include overseeing facilities planning, police operations, information systems, and other districtwide business operations.

Rearic’s predecessor and former boss, Jim Austin, who left last year to become vice president of business and administrative services at MiraCosta College, said Rearic has a “thorough understanding” of the often byzantine process that funnels state dollars to district coffers and is “intimately familiar” with the new funding formula developed in recent years to equalize each district's share of state dollars, a much-sought issue of equity for historically underfunded districts, such as Grossmont-Cuyamaca.

A community college graduate who went on to California State University, Northridge for a bachelor of science degree in business administration-accounting, Rearic has been with GCCCD for 22 years. She has held several assignments, including serving as the chief business officer at Cuyamaca College and Grossmont College.

“These experiences gave me a closer look at the colleges, how each department impacts students, how fiscal services and funding support all operations and how to help advance the missions of the district and colleges,” Rearic said.

Rearic, who has completed post graduate work at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was licensed as a certified public accountant in 1981. She is also a recent graduate of the Association of Chief Business Officials Training Institute, a yearlong series of training sessions held each year in Sacramento for community college CBOs.  Before her arrival at GCCCD, she worked as a senior internal auditor for UCSB and as senior auditor for General Dynamics.

An avid runner, the El Cajon resident recently completed her first marathon. She and her husband, Sam, a social science teacher at Monte Vista High School, have three sons, ages 10, 12, and 14.

Intergovernmental Relations, Economic Development, and Public Information
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