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Chair

Superintendent/President, Butte College

Virginia L. Guleff serves as the eighth president of Butte College.  She began this role in 2022, previously serving as the Vice President for Instruction and Accreditation Liaison Officer since 2017.  She began her work in the community college system in 1986 as a tutor at De Anza College and has served in a variety of roles throughout her career, including  classified professional, associate faculty member and tenured faculty member as well as ESL Coordinator, English Department Chair, Dean of Instruction and Vice President of both Student Services and Instruction.  Her work has included positions in the San Diego Community College District, Mendocino College and Solano College; she has also acted as accreditation liaison officer at these institutions.  President Guleff holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts in Linguistics; she has authored two textbooks and has spoken at the Oxford Round Table on her research on Generation 1.5 language acquisition.  This is her 14th accreditation team and her second term as a team chair. 

Vice Chair

President, Diablo Valley College

Dr. Monica Chahal serves as the president of Diablo Valley College. Dr. Chahal brings more than 30 years of experience in California’s community college system, having served in roles from classified professional to faculty member and administrator at several colleges, including Clovis, Yuba and Woodland. With her appointment at DVC, Dr. Chahal becomes the first Sikh American president in the California Community College system.

Dr. Chahal holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership as well as an MA and BA in English. Her experience with accreditation includes work as single voice editor of a college ISER, ALO, and peer review team member.

Peer Reviewer

Vice President of Educational Services, Lemoore College

Kris Costa serves as the Vice President of Educational Services at Lemore College. Her journey in higher education began in roles including Tech Prep Coordinator, Director of Agriculture Programs, Articulation Liaison, Career Pathways Engagement Manager and Subject Matter Expert focusing on Early College Credit models, with various colleges and organizations. She joined the administrative team at Lemoore Collee as the Dean of Career Technical Education in 2017, where she championed the development of credit, noncredit, and apprenticeship programs to address workforce needs in the community. Kris Costa currently serves as the Accreditation Liaison Officer for Lemoore College and is a proud mom of a US Airman serving in Guam and two Lemoore College alumni.

Peer Reviewer

Professor of Education Studies & First Year Seminar, Sacramento City College

Dr. Norman Lorenz is a tenured Professor of Education Studies, Early Childhood, and The First Year Experience at Sacramento City College, where he teaches Human Development and Freshman Seminar. He serves as the Faculty Coordinator for Professional Development with the Staff Resource Center as well as Coordinator of the college's Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee of the Academic Senate Council. Additionally, he is the lead for two current cohorts, the Ascend Survey with the Wheelhouse Institute for Community College student success and our AI workgroup for educational change.

His accreditation experience includes administrative and commission work with the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) as well as service with WASC and ACCJC through the CSU system and community colleges, participating in multiple accreditation site visits.

Peer Reviewer

Distance Education Coordinator, Modesto Junior College

Dr. Michael Smedshammer serves as the Dean of Instruction & Student Learning at Modesto Junior College.  He holds a Ph. D in English from the University of New Mexico where he studied modern (1900-1945) British and American literature. Dr. Smedshammer taught English at MJC from 2000 to 2012, when he became the Distance Education Coordinator. As Faculty accreditation Co-Chair, he wrote Modesto Junior College’s 2023 ISER.

ACCJC Staff Liaison

Vice President, ACCJC

Kevin Bontenbal joined the ACCJC team in August 2020. He brings with him 23 years of accreditation and college leadership experience, and a strong commitment to the higher education community college system. For the past five years, Dr. Bontenbal has served as an academic Commissioner chairing the Substantive Change and Policy Committees and as a peer reviewer on many external site visits. Most recently, he was the Instructional Technology Librarian/Faculty at Cuesta College. In 2014, Dr. Bontenbal received the Cuesta Presidential Leadership Award for his role in leading the college from show cause to reaffirmation. He has a strong background in college governance and leadership having served in many roles, including Academic Senate President, Curriculum Chair, Accreditation Co-Chair, and Faculty Professional Development Coordinator. From 2010-2013, he also served on the Executive Committee for the statewide Academic Senate of California Community Colleges. Dr. Bontenbal holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master of Library Science from Syracuse University, and two bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies from California State University, Chico.