Finalists for Mission College Post Say
Expanded Facilities Needed
Education: Adriana Barrera,
Thomas Morales
address forum. All four
candidates for presidency will
be interviewed by trustees
today.
By SOLOMON MOORE, Times Staff Writer
SYLMAR--At consecutive
public forums at
Mission College on Tuesday
night, two finalists for the
presidency of the school
said they would work to
expand campus facilities
and reach out to surrounding
communities if they were
selected to lead the institution.
Adriana D. Barrera,
former president of El Paso
Community College, and
Thomas D. Morales, vice
president of student affairs
at City College of New
York, both emphasized
their experiences with
disadvantaged and new
immigrant student
bodies--student populations
similar to Mission's.
The 7,000-student
campus is about 70% Latino and
situated in a mostly Latino
area. Community activists
and college officials
have criticized the district for not
working hard enough to
attract diverse candidates.
Both candidates introduced
themselves in Spanish to
an audience numbering
about 150. The Los Angeles
Community College District
Board of Trustees will
interview all four candidates
today.
The forums are the
first of their kind at Mission,
which scrapped a previous
search process after
trustees complained the
candidate pool was too
inexperienced and not
diverse enough. None of those
three finalists were Latinos.
This time around
three of the four finalists are
Latinos, and all have
worked at predominantly Latino
campuses.
On Monday, the first
forums featured Celia
Barberena, vice president
of Hartnell Community
College, and Karen Sue
Grosz, chief academic and
student affairs officer
of the Connecticut Community
College System.
The audience was
invited to submit written
comments, which will be
summarized and considered
by the trustees. Chancellor
Mark Drummond, who
interviewed all four candidates
Tuesday, said the
trustees will select a
president today or next
Wednesday in a special
meeting.
Barrera cited several
of her accomplishments in El
Paso, including construction
of off-site learning centers
in some of the county's
poorest areas and her
establishment of a more
consultative management
structure. She also talked
about her efforts to work
with residents in the
El Paso Community College area
as she worked to expand
campus facilities, something
Mission administrators
have as yet been unable to do.
Barrera also touted
the value of ethnic studies at
Mission College.
"I think there
is something to be said for courses that
teach us about our roots,
about where we are from,
about who we are, what
we're about," she said.
Morales talked about
his childhood in Puerto Rico
and New York and how he
found his way from New
York City's public schools
to higher education. He
emphasized the importance
of campus life for students,
a point he is charged
with promoting at City College.
Morales also gave
the strongest response to a
question on how to accommodate
more students at
Mission College, one of
the district's smallest and most
overcrowded campuses.
"We need to
explore opportunities to expand the
physical plant,"
he said.
Morales also said
that community activists--who
have been vocal on issues
affecting Mission
College--must not overpower
the role of college
administrators and faculty
members.
Biology student Anilu
Sanchez, 19, called Barrera a
"strong woman,"
who she thought could change things
for the better at Mission
College.
"I like the
way she was encouraging us to take
computer science courses
and Chicano studies," she
said.
Life Science instructor
Angela Echeverri preferred
Thomas Morales, whom Echeverri
said had a wider
vision.
"He was very
informed," she said. "And he was
much more concrete."
Candidates Offer Views on Leading Mission College
By SOLOMON MOORE, Times Staff Writer
SYLMAR--Mission College's presidential search
process entered the final rounds Monday, with two of
four final candidates making campaign-style
appearances before students, faculty and college
trustees.
Celia Barberena and Karen Sue Grosz both
emphasized their commitment to shared governance
and to serving diverse campuses. About 70% of
Mission's 7,000 students are Latinos.
Barberena, vice president of student services at
Hartnell Community College in Salinas, spoke before
about 80 people at a 6:30 p.m. appearance. Grosz,
chief academic and student affairs officer of the
Connecticut Community College System, spoke before
about twice as many people at a similar forum 90
minutes later.
Barberena emphasized her Latino heritage--she
came to the U.S. from Nicaragua in 1966--and her
efforts to provide support for her mostly Latino student
body at Hartnell College.
"There are very few women and very few Latinas
who are presidents of community colleges," she said.
Grosz, the only finalist who is not a Latino, talked
about her commitment to diversity in hiring and her
intention to include Latino leaders in discussions about
the future direction of the college. She also said
students must come first.
"Many problems can be resolved by serving student
needs," she said.
The other finalists are Adriana Barrera, former
president of El Paso Community College in Texas, and
Thomas Morales, vice president of City College of
New York. They are scheduled to appear on campus
at separate forums tonight.
All four finalists will be interviewed by Los Angeles
Community College District trustees and Chancellor
Mark Drummond this week.
The trustees, two of whom attended Monday's
forums, are expected to make a decision by next
month.
Barberena emphasized her belief in allowing faculty
and students to have a say in administrative decisions.
Grosz also supports the concept and helped draft
state law implementing shared governance when she
was president of the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges.
Barberena repeatedly pledged to listen to "all the
different voices" that make up the Mission College
community before deciding on a course of action.
Known for her ability to identify external funding
sources, Barberena said she would look for similar
opportunities at Mission. She also said she wanted to
encourage more high school students to seek a college
education, and to beef up academic counseling to
encourage more Mission students to seek transfers to
four-year universities.
"If a student doesn't have the idea [of transferring] in
their head, it is very hard to make transferring a reality,"
Barberena said.
Grosz listed six priorities at Mission College:
budgets, diversity, curriculum development,
governance, online education and accountability.
On budgets, Grosz said she has imposed fiscal
discipline on multimillion-dollar organizations and
lobbied successfully for additional funds as needed. On
diversity, Grosz said "a diverse faculty and staff should
serve a diverse student population."
As for curriculum development, a task Grosz has
direct control over in the Connecticut Community
College System, Grosz emphasized the need to adjust
course offerings to the needs of the community and to
the requirements of California's two university systems.
Like Barberena, Grosz said she was committed to
an inclusive form of governance that took into account
the interests of faculty, staff, students and community
members.
3 Latinos Among 4 Vying to Lead Mission
College
Education: All the presidential finalists satisfy the
school's emphasis on diversity and administrative
experience. They will visit this week.
By SOLOMON MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Three are college vice presidents, and one is a
former president. Only one is from California. All have
served in predominantly Latino institutions. And all
aspire to be the next president of Mission College, the
northeast San Fernando Valley's only community
college.
All four have had to grapple with issues that Mission
College has faced: financial shortfalls, first-generation
college students and internal politics.
The current presidential search at Mission is the
second since Bill Norlund stepped down last summer.
The first group of three finalists was rejected by the Los
Angeles Community College District board because it
lacked administrative experience and ethnic diversity.
Under pressure from legislators and community
activists in the East Valley, the board made changes this
time around, including hiring a search firm, streamlining
the search committee and placing a greater emphasis on
administrative experience and diversity.
Last year's search yielded no Latino finalists for the
mostly Latino campus of about 7,000 students.
The finalists are:
* Thomas D. Morales, vice president of student
affairs at City College of New York;
* Celia Barberena, vice president of student
services at Hartnell Community College in Salinas;
* Adriana D. Barrera, an educational consultant and
former president of El Paso Community College in
Texas;
* Karen Sue Grosz, chief academic and student
affairs officer of the Connecticut Community College
System.
The four will visit Mission College for public forums
today and Tuesday. They will interview with the Board
of Trustees and district Chancellor Mark Drummond on
Tuesday and Wednesday. The board could choose a
campus leader by the end of the week.
Morales, 51, has been a vice president at City
College of New York since 1994. The school is one of
the oldest public institutions of higher learning in the
country. Morales is the only male candidate.
He grew up in Brooklyn and divides his time
between upstate New York and Yonkers. Before
moving to the 11,000-student City College--a
four-year university in Harlem--Morales was an
assistant dean at the State University of New York at
New Paltz.
He was also an assistant vice president for student
affairs at SUNY, New Paltz, and director of the
school's Educational Opportunity Program, an initiative
to provide greater educational access to disadvantaged
youths.
Candidate Raised Student Morale
City College interim President Stanford Roman said
Morales has "changed the whole tone of the relationship
of students with the college" by raising morale and
increasing campus participation.
Morales also had an important effect on the school's
curriculum, serving on a committee that reviewed the
School of Education.
"Tom's a leader," Roman said. "He's forthright
and
he articulates what he believes."
Roman said Morales' style has worked well at City
College, which has one of the oldest faculty unions in
the country.
"What I bring is 25 years of experience working
with historically underrepresented students and
first-generation students," Morales said. "I am
intrinsically committed to those students."
Morales said he was undaunted by the political
agendas swirling around Mission College.
"I'm a New York City boy," he said in an interview
last week.
Finalist Increased School Enrollment
Barberena, 51, has been vice president of Hartnell
Community College in agriculturally rich Salinas for four
years and has presided over several enrollment
increases. Hartnell, a campus of about 6,600 full-time
students, is struggling with budget shortfalls and low
teacher pay, according to administrators and faculty
members. Barberena is the only candidate from
California.
She was a dean of special programs at Modesto
Junior College before going to Hartnell. In Modesto,
she ran the Educational Opportunity Program and was
an adjunct English teacher. Before that, she was a
consultant to Sacramento City College and executive
director of Oficina Hispana, a Boston-based nonprofit
offering vocational and English classes to
Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Larry Carrier, Hartnell's vice president of
administrative services, called Barberena "an organized,
forward-thinking and collaborative person." He praised
her ability to bring in grant money and to keep up good
relations with factions inside and outside the college.
"The biggest challenge for us all has been to fund
everything," he said.
Cheri Gray, Hartnell's director of matriculation and
enrollment, said money management is one of
Barberena's strong suits.
"She always wants to go after whatever money is
available, and she got resources that I wouldn't have
had time to explore," Gray said.
Although Barberena has little control over salaries,
the Hartnell administration has been criticized recently
for paying professors far less than most California
community colleges.
"Our campus is going through some upheaval with
faculty and salary negotiations, and it's been kind of
ugly," said a Hartnell administrator who asked not to be
identified. "She is one of the top management, and as a
group they are often judged by the rest of the campus."
In interviews last week, Barberena said she recently
won a $3-million grant for the school and organized a
major youth conference. Both the grant and the
conference are intended to attract young Latinos to
Hartnell.
Failed to Win New Contract
Barrera, 49, became an education consultant after
she left the presidency of the three-campus,
18,000-student El Paso Community College District.
The district's Board of Trustees voted not to renew her
contract in 1998 after disagreement over personnel
matters.
A native of Benavides, Texas, Barrera said that her
parents didn't finish elementary school and that all but
one of her six siblings went to college.
She was an executive assistant to the president of El
Paso Community College from 1992 to 1993, when
she became the interim president. Before that, she was
assistant to the president and a grant writer at Austin
Community College.
Barrera was appointed president of El Paso
Community College in 1994 during a difficult period.
The Southern Assn. for Colleges and Schools
accrediting agency had threatened to strip the school's
accreditation. In response, she set about making the
agency's recommendations a reality, including creating a
more democratic system of decision-making and
expanding the campus with five new buildings and two
outreach sites in the toughest parts of the county.
"These are areas without sewer systems," she said.
"Some don't have roads. We were trying to bring the
educational facilities and work-force training to them."
The expansion will allow the community college to
serve an additional 3,000 students.
By 1998, most of the board members who
supported her reforms had moved on and several who
remained disagreed with her on personnel decisions,
according to El Paso Community College Trustee
Innocente Quintanilla.
"She was cleaning house," Quintanilla said. "And
some of those people who were not doing their job had
friends on the board."
Quintanilla said he and another trustee were elected
to the board two years ago on a pro-Barrera platform.
But the new trustees still fell one vote short of a
majority.
"In the community, she had support," Quintanilla
said. "But she didn't lobby the community. She was
very professional."
Barrera didn't fight her opponents because she
didn't want to damage the school's reputation,
Quintanilla said.
"That could be viewed as a shortcoming--that she
did not fight for the position," he said.
Non-Latino Finalist Serves in California
Grosz, 56, is the only non-Latino candidate. She has
been the chief academic officer in the Connecticut
Community College System since 1995.
On paper, she has had the most statewide
administrative experience. Before moving to New
England, Grosz was dean of Language Arts at San Jose
City College. She was a member of the California
Community College Board of Governors from 1989 to
1991 and president of the state Academic Senate from
1987 to 1989. She also taught English at Santa Monica
College for 20 years.
In Connecticut, Grosz has tried to create a smoother
student transition from community colleges to four-year
universities. Connecticut's community college transfer
rates are among the lowest in the nation, and she has
taken a leadership role in remedying the situation,
colleagues said.
"We have a state higher education board that is
often more conservative than we at the community
colleges would like," said Andrew McKirdy, interim
chancellor of the 40,000-student system. "Karen has
been a major advocate for us."
With so many small, private liberal arts schools in
the Northeast, many states have neglected their
community colleges, McKirdy said. Grosz has worked
hard to get four-year universities to accept community
college graduates as juniors, something that is already
done in California.
Grosz has also been a pioneer in online classes and
"distance learning" in Connecticut, said Tom
White-Hassler, dean of information technologies at
Connecticut's Manchester Community College.
Celia Barberena will address the public at 6:30 p.m.
Monday at Mission College. She will be followed by
Karen Sue Grosz at 7:45 p.m. On Tuesday, Adriana D.
Barrera will speak at 6:30 p.m., and Thomas D.
Morales at 7:45 p.m.