Shane Reynolds named as New Dean leading Public Safety, Allied Health, and Nursing at Monterey Peninsula College
Monterey Peninsula College welcomes Shane C. Reynolds as the new Dean of Instruction, Public Safety, Allied Health, and Nursing, serving both the main campus and the Seaside Public Safety Training Center. Shane brings over a decade of progressive leadership in the California Community College system as both Career and Technical Education faculty and program director, with a career built on collaboration, humility, and a steady commitment to removing the barriers that keep underrepresented students from reaching sustainable, meaningful careers.
Most recently, Reynolds served as Director and Co-founder of the Rising Scholars Program at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC), which he established in 2015 to serve incarcerated students across Northern California. Working closely with faculty, staff, and partner agencies, he grew the program from zero external funding to a braided annual budget of $1.7 million, leading instruction and student services across 15 remote sites including military installations, correctional facilities, and juvenile justice centers, ensuring every site received consistent, high-quality support.
A faculty member as well as an administrator, Reynolds has spent his career designing and teaching CTE for first-generation and underrepresented students. That dual perspective shapes how he builds programs: always in partnership, always centered on students. He led the growth and support of more than 550 special-admit students each quarter, and the program he built from the ground up has helped facilitate over 900 years of sentence reduction and family reunification over its tenure. Most recently, a stackable Forestry certificate pathway developed with LTCC faculty, CDCR, and CAL FIRE California's first eight incarcerated students earn an Associate of Science in Forestry, setting them up for livable-wage jobs upon release.
Reynolds has served on advisory boards and work groups for the North-Far-North Regional Consortium and the California Community College Chancellor's Office, where he has advocated for students at the state level and used Centers of Excellence labor-market data to guide his advocacy. Reynolds has deepened his leadership practice through The Coalition's Aspiring Radical Leaders Institute and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education at Prescott College.
"Leadership starts with heart and humility," Reynolds said. "When a student is given a real chance, real support, and a genuine sense of belonging, it changes who they believe they can become. That's why I'm honored to join the Monterey Peninsula College family, a community that shows up for students. I can't wait to build pathways with faculty rooted in compassion, pathways that prepare students not only for careers, but for lives of purpose, leadership, and service to the communities they call home."
As he begins his new role, Reynolds looks forward to deepening partnerships with faculty and regional employers, expanding experiential learning opportunities, and ensuring every MPC student has the tools, support, and confidence to achieve their educational and career goals.