SACRAMENTO – The California Community Colleges Board of Governors on Monday elected officers for the 2011 calendar term during its bimonthly meeting held at the El Camino College in Torrance.

The 17-member board, appointed by the governor, nominates and elects its president, vice president, and the representative and alternate representative to the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC).

The election takes place each November and the chosen officials serve for a one-year term.

The newly elected officers are Scott Himelstein, Alice Perez, Barbara Davis-Lyman and Geoffrey L. Baum.

Himelstein, of San Diego, is president of the Board of Governors. He has served as the director of the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego since 2007. He also serves as president of the William D. Lynch Foundation for Children. He was appointed to the Board of Governors in 2008.

“I am honored to serve as president of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges,” said Himelstein. “As shrinking financial resources are the new normal around world and here in California, my top priorities are to work with system leaders to generate cost efficiencies and further increase options, classes and ultimately success for students.”

Perez, of Roseville, is vice president of the Board of Governors. She worked for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), where she served as manager of customer strategy and has spent 23 years in the financial services industry. She was appointed to the Board of Governors in 2007.

“Coming from private industry, I know firsthand how important community college students are to our state’s workforce,” said Perez. “My goal is to execute reform strategies that will increase the number of workers with training certificates and associate degrees that can fill job openings in occupations vital to jump starting our state’s economy.”

Davis-Lyman, of Fair Oaks, CPEC representative, was appointed to the board in 2005, has been a professor of sociology and psychology at Sacramento City College since 1970. She currently serves as president of the Academic Senate for the Los Rios Community College District.

Baum, of Pasadena, CPEC alternate, was appointed to the board in 2008, is a member and past president of the governing board of the Pasadena Area Community College District. He has served as assistant dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California since 2001.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation. It is composed of 72 districts and 112 colleges serving nearly 3 million students per year. Community colleges provide workforce training, teach basic skills math and English courses, and prepare students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

The Chancellor’s Office provides leadership, advocacy and support under the direction of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.