Dr. Cirian Villavicencio

Dr. Cirian Villavicencio has over 18 years of experience in higher education. Dr. Villavicencio currently serves on the California Community College Board of Governors as a faculty representative, appointed by Governor Newsom. He also serves as Co-Chair and Professor of the Department of Political Science at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California. Before attaining a full-time, tenured position, Dr. Villavicencio served as a part-time political science instructor at American River and Folsom Lake Colleges in Sacramento, California. He was a faculty intern for the Los Rios Faculty Diversity Internship Program. 

In his role as a California Community College Board of Governor, Dr. Villavicencio passionately advocates improving student outcomes while reducing equity gaps for students of color and other historically marginalized student populations. He believes in elevating the voice of all California community college students to ensure they thrive and succeed.

Active in local and state politics, Dr. Villavicencio served as a staffer for the California Asian American Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus in the State Capital. He briefly served on the Sacramento County Democratic Central Committee and as an elected state delegate twice to the California Democratic State Convention. Locally, he served as a citizen member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee (EEOAC) for Sacramento County. Dr. Villavicencio was also appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and reappointed by Governor Newsom on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA) whose mission serves to elevate the political, economic, and social issues of California Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for two terms. In 2015-2017, Dr. Villavicencio served as CAPIAA’s chair. Under his direction, he helped pass data disaggregation legislation for the AAPI community, human trafficking legislation, and helped advocate for Filipino WWII Veterans at the federal level to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Because of his innovative leadership, Dr. Villavicencio was chosen as the inaugural Chair of CAPIAA’s Higher Education Equity Committee and led the advocacy effort to create the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Student Achievement Program ($16 million ongoing state funding for California Community Colleges and California State Universities) to support the needs of first-generation, low-income AANHPI students.

Also active in national politics, Dr. Villavicencio interned for the late Congressman Tom Lantos (12th-CA) and was elected twice as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in support of former President Barack Obama 2008 and 2012. In addition, Dr. Villavicencio represented San Joaquin Delta College as a delegate to the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly where he helped craft and vote for policy that affected 3.2 million teachers nationwide.

Dr. Villavicencio has been quoted by the Associated Press, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Sacramento Bee in his role as a state commissioner and the Stockton Record, Lodi News-Sentinel,  Inside Higher Education, and ABC10 in Sacramento as a political analyst. 

At San Joaquin Delta College, Dr. Villavicencio helped co-found the Empowering Positive Initiative for Change (EPIC) Learning Community that serves the district’s AANHPI students. His Academic Senate duties include serving on the Cultural Awareness Program and Student Success & Equity Committee. He also served as the president of the Asian Pacific Islander American Staff Association and as the Co-Chair of the Faculty Caucus for Asian Pacific Equity (FCAPE). Dr. Villavicencio was integral in securing both the Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) federal collaborative and institutional grants that awarded San Joaquin Delta College $2.1 million to support the needs of the district’s AANHPI students. In 2020, Dr. Villavicencio received the Distinguished Faculty Award from San Joaquin Delta College’s Academic Senate given to faculty for their outstanding teaching and community service. 

In the community, Dr. Villavicencio serves on the Sacramento Filipino Political Action Committee board and is a member of the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges and the Community College League of California. He received bachelor's degrees in history and political science, graduating with honors from the University of California, Davis. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and earned his master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California where he specialized in political management. He completed his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) at the University of Wyoming where he specialized in Higher Education Administration. Cirian is married to his wife, Cheryl, a fourth-grade teacher. They have two children, Annie and John. The Villavicencio's are active in their church, love to travel, ride on roller coasters, scuba dive, hike, and enjoy everything Disney.

Cirian teaches the following courses at San Joaquin Delta College: 

Academic Courses 

Political Science 1, American Government and Institutions
Political Science 2, Introduction to Comparative Politics
Political Science 6, International Political Economy 
Political Science 14, Political Science Study & Travel Abroad 

Research & Internship Seminars 

Political Science 50H, Advanced Research & Writing in Political Science 
Political Science 69V, Government Internship