Dr. Jowel C. Laguerre is leaving Solano Community College to become chancellor of the Peralta Community College District, Yashica J. Crawford, SCC chief of staff, said.

Laguerre will be succeeded by Stan Arterberry, chancellor emeritus of WestValley Mission Community College District, as interim SCC superintendent-president, Crawford said.

The Board of Trustees of Peralta, a northern Alameda County college district, unanimously approved a three-year contract June 23 with Laguerre, who will be paid a base annual salary of $305,000 starting Wednesday.

At his new post, Laguerre will oversee Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College and Merritt College.

“The Peralta Community deserves the best in all of us that are entrusted with its governance and operations, and Dr. Laguerre brings a wealth of experience to the position and has demonstrated his leadership skills as the superintendent-president of Solano Community College District,” Peralta district President Meredith Brown said.

“This vote to name me as chancellor of the Peralta Community College District is very meaningful to me,” Laguerre said. “I look forward to being an integral part of, and contributor to, the communities served by our district.”

Laguerre became superintendent-president of Solano Community College on July 1, 2009.

While there, he approved the Umoja (“unity”) program for African-American students, particularly those who are at risk or are economically disadvantaged. He also led the college’s successful bond campaign to raise $348 million for new construction, renovation of existing buildings and equipment, technological upgrades and a new Military Veterans Center.

Laguerre was among the founders of Solano County Education Initiative, a program that assures coordination of activities among multiple organizations that serve the county’s youth, and the Vallejo Education and Business Alliance. In conjunction with Sonoma State University, he has been instrumental in getting bachelor degree programs started at SCC.

Prior to his SCC appointment, Laguerre was vice president for academic affairs at Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno, Nev., a school with more than 13,000 credit students each year.

He also has been the executive vice president for academic and student services at Montgomery College in Maryland, and he had positions in academic and student services at Lake Superior College in Minnesota, where he was vice president of student services and learning support, dean of liberal arts and sciences and director of academic and student affairs.

He has taught English as a second language, French, Haitian-Creole, physics and mathematics.

He is the founder of Teachers of Tomorrow, which recruits young people, particularly minorities, to the teaching profession, and has directed the I Have a Dream program in Kansas City, Mo., where he mentored 59 African-American men and women who became college students.

In cooperation with Bryant C. Freeman, he has published a Haitian-English dictionary, and with Dr. Cecile Accilien, a Haitian phrasebook. He is currently writing a Haitian-Creole textbook.

Laguerre has a doctorate degree in educational leadership for college and university administration, a master’s of science in education in school administration and a master’s of arts in French literature from the University of Kansas. He also has a certificate in mathematics and physics education from L’Université d’Etat d’Haiti: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti.

Arterberry, his successor, has been a professor of sociology and dean, and is a senior consultant with Ralph Anderson and Associates. Prior to being hired at WestValley Mission, Arterberry was superintendent-president of SCC from 1994 to 2002.

Arterberry also was chancellor and interim superintendent-president of Merritt College in 1993 and 1994. He has a master’s of arts degree in sociology from Atlanta University and a bachelor of arts in sociology from Whittier College. He also has a certificate in management from the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management.

Marie Young, president of the SCC Board of Trustees, said Laguerre “has been a visionary and an advocate for Solano Community College District on local, state, regional national and international levels.”

She said she and the board accepted his resignation “and respect his decision to move to a higher position in community college administration.” However, she added, “We will be losing his visionary and transformational leadership. Solano Community College District has grown in many ways since the arrival of Dr. Laguerre in 2009. We are going to miss his forward thinking which has led to transforming students’ lives.”