Helping students in tough times

Santa Ana College President Earlinda Martinez, a Huntington Beach resident, has been named one of 25 top Latinos in education by “Latino Leaders” magazine.

“It’s all about the students,” she said of her priorities.

Martinez has led the college since March 2005. She is known for her constant focus on student needs, despite tough economic realities. One focus is through the college foundation’s President’s Circle program.

“There was a student whom I met in a bathroom one time who was crying because her financial aid check wasn’t ready, and she needed food for the weekend; she had a small family. I proceeded to see what we could do to get a grocery voucher for the weekend. We have so many students who are on the margins,” Martinez said.

Students find out about the program through their instructors or counselors, or through the financial aid office.

“I really try to look at our decision-making from a student’s perspective,” she said. “Students are primary. It’s very difficult in the budget situation that we’re in, but clearly the students come first.”

Her background in student services includes 10 years as vice president for student affairs and assistant superintendent at Cerritos College, and previous posts at Mission College in Santa Clara and El Camino College in Torrance.

“Since I’ve come here, a lot of what I’ve been doing is working on a master plan,” she said. “As president, I make the final selection for faculty hiring. I believe that I’m hiring people that will be here long after I’m gone. I think my decision making comes from the investment that we make as a college into our students.”

Martinez said she had no idea she was being considered for the “Latino Leaders” list.

“I was surprised and shocked, quite frankly,” she said.

Martinez grew up in Southern California, and received her bachelor’s in sociology from UC Riverside, master’s in counselor education from Cal State Los Angeles and doctorate in education from USC.

Academics were always an important focus in her life.

“I think it runs in the family,” she said. “My parents always emphasized education; it was a family endeavor.”

Martinez said her success is due in part to her relatives.

“I think I had a lot of family support growing up,” she said. “There was never a time where you didn’t have someone ask you, ‘How was school?’ For me, it was not a matter of if you go to college; it was always when you go to college.”

But Martinez didn’t grow up in a privileged economic scenario, and she did all she could to get by; she said this makes her able to relate to her students’ needs on the most basic level.

“I was a work-study student,” she said. “Everything from waiting tables to working in an office. I really scraped by at the beginning, and especially after I started my career, because I had a young family.”

Through the President’s Circle, Martinez and her team are able to assist those who find themselves in similar predicaments of unmet need.

“One young man broke his glasses about 10 days before finals. After working all semester, how could he do his finals? We sent him to the optometrist across the street, and replaced his glasses. To this young man, it was a huge difference for him in terms of how he was able to get through the semester.”

Martinez approaches each campus with a long-term, visionary outlook.

“Santa Ana College has been the culmination of the best place to be for who I am,” she said. “I love being here, and I’d like to stay here for a long time. And I’d like to stay in Huntington Beach for a long time, too.”

ABOUT SANTA ANA COLLEGE

 Established in 1915

 Fourth oldest community college in California

 About 40,000 students from more than 50 countries enrolled

 Student population is 45% Latino and 31% Caucasian

 Staff: About 3,000 employees

 Fees: $20 per academic unit for California residents

 Students can earn an AA degree entirely online

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at [email protected].