New director of human resources for SRJC

Gene Durand has been hired to be the new vice president of human resources for Santa Rosa Junior College.

Prior to coming to SRJC, Durand was the vice president of human resources at Long Beach City College, and director of human resources at Desert Community College District, where his responsibilities included labor negotiations and employee relations, manager training, investigations, and equal employment opportunity and legal compliance.

Durand possesses a wide range of human resources expertise including staff and management coaching, professional development, collective bargaining, employee/employer relations, recruitment and hiring processes, human resources staff and systems management, unlawful discrimination complaints, Title IX investigations and ADA accommodations.

He earned his B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute, a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law, and is a member of the State Bar of California. He says that his service is guided by a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion to ensure the college is a welcoming and supportive place in which to work and learn.

Having spent much of his childhood in Northern California and decades of his adult life in the Bay Area, Durand says that Northern California is his home. With regular excursions to new places and visits to old friends, Sonoma County is a familiar place that he can’t wait to get back to.

The opportunity to live and work for SRJC, which has a reputation for supporting the community with education and providing vocational training that supports its students, is a privilege. He says that working for a community college goes way past the actual work - it’s an opportunity to give back.

“We’re gratified that a talented professional of Gene’s caliber has joined our college,” said SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong. “I believe that his extensive experience, legal background, and work on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will help advance SRJC’s mission to provide the best possible educational opportunities to our Sonoma County community.”