Dr. Matthew Long

Matthew Long serves as Executive Dean of SRJC Petaluma. His early career in higher education included positions in enrollment and student academic services at Sonoma State University. He has served as Dean of Student Services for SRJC Petaluma, and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs at Gateway Community College, the largest community college in Connecticut. As Associate Dean, he served as a member of the College Cabinet and worked with offices, programs, and initiatives that intersected both the student services and academic worlds, such as academic support services and faculty support. He provided direct oversight to most of the departments in student services, including Financial Aid, Student Activities, Athletics, Counseling, Student Disability Services, Career Services, and many others. Dr. Long brings experience from both four-year and two-year institutions, as well as both public and private colleges, including a stint as Associate Director of Student Financial Services at Yale University. Dean Long has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, and began his work at SRJC in February, 2015.

Vanessa Luna

Vanessa Luna has dedicated her career to serving diverse communities in Napa and Sonoma counties over the past 25 years, the past ten of which have been at the SRJC Petaluma campus. Vanessa is a Santa Rosa Junior College graduate, and attributes her love of learning and later teaching, to the instructors at SRJC who established a strong academic foundation that prepared her to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree from CSU Sacramento in Psychology, a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology, and the coursework required for a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) at Alliant International University and John F. Kennedy University. She “paid it forward” by establishing and overseeing the Gateway to College Academy at SRJC Petaluma in 2013–a middle college high school designed for high-promise youth who had the desire to go to college but needed holistic support to complete high school through dual enrollment. Vanessa has also served students at SRJC Petaluma in the capacity of Interim Dean of Student Services, and Director of Dual Enrollment Pathways and Partnerships, a position that allows her to work across the district with K12 partners.

Vanessa is deeply committed to systemic inclusivity, anti-racism, and justice, and serves on multiple community boards across industries to eliminate structural equity gaps. She would like to bring her knowledge of strategic enrollment management, her expertise of uplifting our most historically resilient students, and the tenacity needed for transformational change, to the position of Dean of Instruction and Enrollment Management at SRJC Petaluma.