LONG BEACH, Calif. —Two San José City College administrators and a former SJCC president received the 2026 David Mertes Award for Excellence in Community College Research last week, recognized for a study examining how colleges can move equity goals from policy documents into day-to-day institutional decision-making.
The Association of California Community College Administrators presented the award Feb. 18 during its 50th annual conference in Long Beach, which drew a record 500 attendees.
The recipients are Dr. René Alvarez, dean of Academic Success and Student Equity at San José City College; Dr. Rowena Tomaneng, deputy chancellor of California Community Colleges; and Dr. Joyce Lui, dean of Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness at San José Evergreen Community College District.
Their research, “Operationalizing a Student Equity Framework into an Integrated Planning Strategy,” was published in the Journal of Applied Research in the Community College. It examines why community college districts struggle to integrate equity principles across programs, policies, and planning processes — and proposes a structural solution.
The team found that embedding equity frameworks into annual program reviews, rather than treating equity as a separate institutional initiative, can yield more consistent, measurable results. Their model aims to shift how colleges allocate resources and make decisions by making equity a recurring part of the review cycle rather than a parallel effort competing for administrative attention.
The research argues that institutionalizing equity practices through annual planning can lead to sustained improvements in outcomes for disproportionately impacted student populations.
The Mertes Award, given annually by ACCCA, honors research that advances understanding of community college effectiveness and addresses issues with operational or policy implications for California’s 116-campus system. Recipients are selected by a review committee of ACCCA board members, along with representatives from the Management Development Commission and the Research and Planning Group.
To be eligible, research must have been completed within the prior two years and must address issues of specific concern to California community colleges. Nominations can be submitted by the authors, a sponsoring organization, or the research team, and require an abstract of up to two pages and an executive summary of up to 20 pages.
Selection criteria include the quality and rigor of the methodology, the relevance of the research topic, and whether the findings produce actionable steps or policy implications at the institutional, state, or national level.
Each recipient receives a $500 honorarium from the David Mertes Research Award Fund, and their abstract is published on ACCCA’s website.
ACCCA is the primary professional organization for administrators and managers across California’s community college system. The association provides professional development, mentoring, advocacy, and networking, and has done so for 50 years.
