Alberto J. Román, the 43-year-old president of East Los Angeles College (ELAC), acknowledges that the pandemic disrupted education at the community college that he leads, as it has in nearly every educational setting nationwide. “We had to move all of our education online, and many of our students have never taken a college course before,” he describes.

Because of the pandemic, several of ELAC’s students opted out of college and couldn’t continue their education because they had to take care of their children or obtain part-time jobs. “Other students faced a digital divide and didn’t have Internet access,” he explains. Some students faced eviction and food insecurity. Given all of these factors, enrollment dropped.

Román was named interim president of ELAC in 2020 and permanent president in January 2021, so much of his nearly two years of presidency has been spent during a pandemic.

Román’s educational philosophy is “To give every student an opportunity to have a productive life by providing access to education, assure it’s affordable for them, and make sure every student has the support necessary to become successful.”

He previously served as vice chancellor for HR at the Los Angeles Community College District. He described his primary role in that capacity as “working with various stakeholders, including our labor group, employees, faculty, and academic senate.”  That role taught him that the way to succeed was to “build consensus, come together to address difficult issues”. ”

“If we have trust with each other, we can succeed together,” he explains.

But Román, who was born in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. at age eight with his parents to live in Ontario, California, before graduating from high school in Rialto, California, sees himself as a problem-solver. To counteract the damaging effects of the pandemic on its students, ELAC established what he calls “high-touch points with our students.”

Every student who was no longer enrolled at ELAC was contacted personally by a staff member to “figure out what had happened and what was impacting them and preventing them from returning to school,” Román says. If it was financial aid, ELAC tapped federal funding to increase aid to its students.  Students were given a free laptop and access to Wifi to help them with Internet access. If they needed a part-time job, it was offered to them on campus.

And if the students lost their accommodations, ELAC partnered with two non-profit organizations in Los Angeles, Shower of Hope and LA Room and Board, which helped them obtain temporary housing.

“As president of a community college that serves primarily students of color, I’ve lived this experience of knowing what it’s like not to have food or housing,” Román explains.  He saw ELAC’s mission as providing resources, such as food vouchers or housing assistance, to help students navigate the pandemic. His goal as president is to “resolve any conflict that gets in the way of educational achievement,” he says.

Latinos are at the crux of ELAC’s population. Hispanics compose 78% of the population, and of that number, about 65% are Mexican Americans and 20% are Central American students. Its diverse student body also includes: 11% Asians, 5% Whites, 3% Blacks, and 2% Bi-racials.   Women compose 63% of all students, with 37% men. Students’  average age is 24 years old.

Most of ELAC’s  23,455 students attend part-time. In fact, 79% are part-timers and only 21% are full-timers. All of its students commute; there’s no on-campus housing.  In addition, nearly 14,000 require financial aid as part of California College Program Grants, which average about $8,000 each.

During the pandemic, students moved online 100% in March of 2020 but gravitated to on campus learning in a limited capacity, starting in Fall 2021.  “We anticipate a full return in the near future,” Román says.   

One of the biggest challenges that the college faces is ensuring that its students obtain associate degrees. Of its 3,559 new students in Fall 2018, only 309 (9%) of them received associate degrees in three years.   

The associate degree plays a critical role in many students’ academic success. Román points out that it serves as a “pathway to a bachelor’s degree for many students, who go directly to a four-year education, but get two years of free education.”

Román is dedicated to ensuring that this number rises in the next few years. He has partnered with the faculty and administrative team to create an “educational pathway to transferring to four-year colleges.”

Yet he notes that, “while we continue to work on increasing the number of transfers at ELAC, we serve varying students’ needs, including those interested in CTE (Career and Technical Education) certificates and non-credit courses like ESL and Citizenship classes. Our students’ educational needs vary due to the diverse community that we serve.”

Its most popular majors are Nursing, Business Administration, Administration of Justice and Psychology. Students who pass their nursing test “go directly into the profession and some can earn $100,000 a year,” Román says. The Administration of Justice degree leads to jobs in law enforcement, many Business Administration majors become entrepreneurs, and most Psychology majors transfer into four-year programs.

To help students ease their way into higher education, its First Year Experience (FYE) offers what Román calls “wrap around support throughout their academic journey. It starts with two-year tuition free through the College Program and educational support services including counseling, cohorts and other support services, and encourages family participation.”

East Los Angeles College, Román cites, has spearheaded using the College Promise program. “We were one of the first colleges to implement two free years of community college, then for L.A. residents. That has been expanded across the whole state of California,” Román explains.

It also has been striving to update its technological resources. To that end, it has installed flex classroom technology to make hybrid classes easier and offered more WiFi hotspots on campus.  In addition, students have been provided with Chromebooks and laptops so they can take their courses online.

To adjust to the changing job market, Román is looking to expand its energy sustainability program, which will lead to obtaining more jobs in the future.

Looking into the future, Román says, by fall of 2022, “we will have returned about 60% of students that we lost and by 2023, we will have recovered all students that we lost during the pandemic.”  He calls it his “two-year plan, which will work with the high-touch points.” •