The Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees announced today that there will be a transition in leadership at Long Beach City College.

After much discussion, the Board of Trustees and Interim Superintendent-President Lou Anne Bynum could not come to a mutual agreement regarding the extension of her current contract which is set to expire on March 13, 2021.

Pending Board approval at the Special Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, March 2, the following appointments will be made:

• LBCC Vice President of Student Services Dr. Mike Muñoz as the new LBCCD Interim Superintendent-President. He will begin on March 14, 2021.
• LBCC Dean of Counseling and Student Support Services Dr. Nohel Corral as the Interim Vice President of Student Services. He will also begin in his new role on March 14, 2021.

In addition to the announcement about leadership transition, the Board of Trustees decided to suspend the permanent Superintendent-President Search for now. It will resume next year to ensure the District has ample time to conduct a search for a final candidate.

“The Board is grateful for Interim Superintendent-President Bynum for coming out of retirement to take the huge task of returning to LBCC during a time of transition,” said LBCCD Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. “We are thankful for her hard work, dedication, service, and care for the past year when LBCC dealt with unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic.”

Muñoz joined LBCC in 2018 as the Vice President of Student Services. He has led the LBCC Student Support Services team in several accomplishments including the increasing enrollment of Long Beach College Promise Direct High School Matriculants by more than 30% from Fall 2018 to Fall 2019, increased the number of Pell Recipients by 27% in 2019-20, expanded services in mental health and basic needs, and supported the increase in completions through the implementation of completion counseling efforts. He pushed for additional technology such as a virtual queue line, chatbox functions that have become increasingly used during the pandemic to assist LBCC staff to be more efficient and enhance communication between the College and students.

“The Board is confident that Dr. Muñoz will be able to continue the forward momentum that he started in Student Services and that his ability to get things done will greatly impact all areas of Long Beach City College,” said Ntuk.

Muñoz’s ties to Long Beach include being a graduate of California State University, Long Beach where he received both his master’s and doctor of education degrees. He has also provided support and leadership by serving on the Long Beach College Promise Steering Committee.

Muñoz has extensive experience teaching both at the undergraduate and graduate levels in counseling and higher education. He’s taught master’s level courses at California State University, Long Beach, and USC, and doctoral level courses at California State University, Los Angeles. He’s currently serving as an Adjunct Professor of Higher Education at the USC Rossier’s School of Education teaching a leadership course focused on the Community Colleges. He received the 2018 Dr. Cynthia S. Johnson Award from CSULB that recognized his contributions to higher education through exceptional student mentoring.

Bynum was appointed by the Board of Trustees to serve as the Interim Superintendent-President on March 14, 2020. She returned to LBCC after retiring in 2017 as the Executive Vice President of College Advancement and Economic Development and served the College for more than 20 years.