May 02, 2022
Contact: Melissa Villarin
Office: 916-327-5365
Office E-mail: MVillarin@CCCCO.edu
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — John J. Hetts, PhD, who has served as visiting executive for research and data in the California Community Colleges Office for the past three years, has been appointed executive vice chancellor of the new Office of Innovation, Data, Evidence and Analytics.
Hetts will lead the development and delivery of information technology and security services, student-centered technology-focused initiatives, and evidence-based reporting and evaluation.
“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Hetts to this important new role,” Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley said. “His leadership will help foster the culture of innovation and will continue his impactful work supporting the development and evaluation of policies and programs designed to improve student outcomes and advance the Vision for Success.”
The new office is a part of a Chancellor’s Office transformation to advance Guided Pathways and the Vision for Success. The new offices will report to Deputy Chancellor Daisy Gonzales, and will align the Chancellor’s Office organizational structure with the Vision for Success desired outcomes, improve resiliency, and strengthen communication and cross collaboration in service of student success.
Two other offices as part of this realignment are:
- The Educational Services and Supports Division has aligned with Workforce and Economic Development Division under the new Equitable Student Learning, Experience, and Impact Office, led by Executive Vice Chancellor Marty Alvarado.
- The College Finance and Facilities Planning Division, the Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) and Government Relations Division have aligned under the new Institutional Supports and Success Office, led by Executive Vice Chancellor Lizette Navarette.
Hetts joined the Chancellor’s Office in 2019 and has helped to reimagine the role of data, research, and evidence, working to rebuild that capacity within the system office to better serve colleges and their 1.8 million students.
A nationally recognized leader in intersegmental educational pathways in higher education, Hetts has spent the last two decades working to better understand and recognize student capacity to make certain that all students receive fair credit for their skills and the full opportunity to put those skills to use to achieve their educational goals and aspirations. He currently represents the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office as a Board Member of the Governing Board of the State of California Cradle to Career System, leads the statewide Student Metrics Advisory Committee, and has served as a member of the Multiple Measures Assessment Project research team, the Cradle to Career Research Subcommittee, both the University of California’s Standardized Testing Feasibility Steering Committee and Work Group, the California Guided Pathways Advisory Committee, and the AB 705 Implementation Workgroup, and has been both a California Education Policy Fellow and a Complete College America Fellow.
Formerly, Hetts served as the senior director of Data Science for Educational Results Partnership, which under the leadership of the Chancellor’s Office manages CalPASS Plus, California’s voluntary intersegmental data system, and the improvement and accountability tool known as LaunchBoard. Before that, he served as the director of institutional research at Long Beach City College, where his collaborations on modeling student assessment helped lead to system-wide reforms of remedial education.
Hetts earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University followed by a doctorate in social psychology with specializations in measurement and psychometrics as well as political psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 1.8 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; and degree and certificate pathways. As the state’s engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision for Success, a strategic plan designed to improve student success outcomes, increase transfer rates and eliminate achievement gaps. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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