Nearly eight years after taking the helm at Cabrillo College, President Matt Wetstein has announced his retirement.
Wetstein will work through Dec. 31 to allow the Board of Trustees time to hire a new president, the college announced in a press release on Monday.
The Cabrillo College Governing Board will establish a search committee and will begin the process of initiating a search for the next president, with plans for that person to begin work in January 2026.
During a phone call Tuesday, Wetstein praised the faculty, leadership and students.
“I’ve loved it here at Cabrillo,” he said. “It’s a great environment. It’s been a great run.”
He said that, after a career in education that spanned three decades, he is looking forward to spending time with his wife, traveling and going on hikes.
While Wetstein’s departure just seven years after he started may seem abrupt, Cabrillo College Governing Board Chair Adam Spickler pointed out that the average length of time for a college president to stay is three years or fewer.
Before Wetstein, President Laurel Jones served from 2013 to 2018.
Among the manifold duties of the position, Spickler said, are addressing public concerns and handling issues with personnel, the governing board, staff and students.
In addition, college leaders must be adept at navigating the complex politics of state funding that focuses on new students and places less emphasis on returning students and older, “lifelong learners,” Spickler said.
“It is a grueling job,” he said. “We have to be creative about staying viable, and Matt’s been pivotal at that.”
Spickler also praised Wetstein for his response to the twin disasters of the Covid-19 pandemic and the CZU fires, establishing the college as an evacuation point and temporary shelter.
“Cabrillo College was one of our premier places where I didn’t have to worry about a darn thing,” Spickler said.
“He’s been excellent for the college in a number of ways, and it’s going to be incredibly big shoes to fill.”
Before he came to Cabrillo, Wetstein served for six years as the assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction and planning at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. Before that, he taught political science at San Joaquin Delta College, and also served as the dean of planning and research. He is a statewide leader in the Research and Planning Community for California Community Colleges, having spent six years on the board of that organization and two years as president. He is the co-author of three books on the Canadian Supreme Court, one book on abortion politics in the U.S., and has published more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles on judicial behavior, abortion politics and community college student success. After his retirement, he plans to relocate to Stockton, California, where he and his wife have a residence.
Wetstein’s Accomplishments
Source: Cabrillo College
• Hiring full-time faculty to increase the College’s offerings in programs such as welding, nursing, ethnic studies and community health, and to expand mental health services for students.
• Leading Cabrillo College and the establishment of emergency shelters during the CZU wildfires (2020), and floods in Pajaro (2023).
• Leading the College through the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as the incident commander in Cabrillo’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), keeping students, faculty and staff safe, and navigating successful pivots to online instruction and back to in-person learning.
• Guiding the creation of and serving on Cabrillo’s Hispanic Serving Institution Task Force and Leadership Team, resulting in faculty and staff development, increased funding for community events, and the hiring of a bilingual marketing professional.
• Serving on a statewide taskforce related to college affordability, food and housing needs that generated policy briefs that shaped basic needs legislation and funding for affordable housing.
• Providing direction for grants initiatives that brought more than $14 million in federal funding to the college.
• Helping the Cabrillo Foundation staff grow the College’s endowment by nearly $30 million.
• Leading a renaissance of public art on the College’s two campuses, by securing funding for murals, sculptures and performing arts events.
• Serving as a Tri-Chair of the Central Coast K-16 Education Consortium, which infused $18 million in state funds into the region for economic recovery efforts in career pathways focused on health care and computer science and engineering.
• Advocating at the state level for changes to the student-centered funding formula, which creates inequitable per-student funding rates across California’s community colleges.
• Leading the Board of Trustees and College through community learning and listening sessions related to the proposed name change for the College.
• Serving on several nonprofit boards in Santa Cruz County, including: Agri-Culture, the Santa Cruz County Business Council, the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Sutter Health/Palo Alto Medical Foundation Advisory Board, and United Way, and serving as a member of the Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club.
• Being named the Aptos Chamber of Commerce 2019 Man of the Year, and the 2024 Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year.
• Working with state legislators and UCSC to secure $111.7 million in state bond funding to launch the 624-bed Cabrillo College and UCSC affordable student housing project, which is on schedule for a groundbreaking in fall 2025.
I had many lively discussions with Matt during the five years i have worked with him. we have both agreed, on the issue of the new dorm, and disagreed, on the issue of how fast to change the name of the college. we have always been able to talk and hear each other , respecting each other’s opinions. i have been the most controversial , and most opinionated of all the trustees. and he has accepted that with grace and humility. I thank him for that.
He will be missed. we will continue to expand Diversity, Equity and Inclusion , with his leadership to lead us forward. that will continue with a new campus president. I am so proud he was selected as person of the year by the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce in 2024. i am so pleased he will get a long delayed rest at the end of the year. he deserves it. i am hopeful we will find a similarly qualified candidate to replace him, but it will be difficult. thank you to the Good Times for listing his many accomplishments.