Chris Renbarger was appointed the position of assistant superintendent and vice president of business services at City College in January.

The vice president of business services works on planning the budget for the whole college and manages the expenses in order to increase revenue.

Renbarger spent most of his time growing up in Camarillo and Ventura. He’s lived most of his life in California going to undergraduate school at UC Santa Cruz. He spent a little time away from California for his graduate school in Syracuse, New York. 

His previous work was at Oxnard College where he worked for 11 years, and in a similar position for five years. 

He detailed the difference between City College and Oxnard College and how that had an impact on his decision to come to City College. 

“One of the reasons I chose City College was because it’s a single college district,” Renbarger said. “Where I was at in Oxnard College, it was a three college district, and I thought it would be more beneficial working in a single college district where it’s more direct.”

Renbarger steps into position during a critical time for City College. 

A major issue City College has been facing for a number of years is the decrease in enrollment, therefore a decrease in funding from the government. 

“I’m hoping that we’ll get a lot of great ideas in the budget committee to promote either increasing revenue or decreasing expenses,” Renbarger said. 

Renbarger explains the main issue City College faces is when it comes to the budget. 

“The main budget issue is that the amount of money the college receives from the state or other funding sources is less than the amount of money the college spends on people and infrastructure,” Renbarger said. 

As for his future at the college he plans on bringing qualities he found useful in his previous work. 

“One of the things that I pride myself on from the campus I came from before was working collegially with all parties,” Renbarger said. “So, I hope to help people to work better together towards a common goal because we’re all interested in serving students.” 

Not only does he plan on being collegial with his workers, but he also plans on having a level of transparency across all who make up the community. 

“I will share information widely. When people ask a question I will not shy away from answering them,” Renbarger said. “A former governor used to say ‘The business of the public is public’ meaning, it should be available, and I fully committed to that as well.”

Renbarger acknowledges that changes need to be made so the college can be a place of growth for not only students but the community as a whole. 

“Through the efforts I mentioned before, working alongside faculty, staff and students I hope to come up with ideas that help resolve the [budget] issue,” Renbarger said. “I think the instability is, in part, the financial problem, but the other part of the instability is the approach that’s been taken, and I think people working together will help to resolve that.”

When he is not working, he likes to referee youth soccer games. A hobby that was picked up through his daughter’s interest. 

“My daughter was refereeing youth soccer games, and wanted to use it as a way to help her apply for college and so I began to referee, and started to enjoy doing it,” Renbarger said. 

A hobby that began as a way to help his daughter soon became a hobby for himself. He not only referees youth soccer but is also in touch with professional soccer games. 

“I enjoy watching it too, but I follow a player more than I follow a specific team,” Renbarger said.