President Fran White moves on from COM
Elisa Forsgren
Issue date: 2/8/10 Section: Features
Reflecting on her favorite part of her tenure at COM, White said, "I'm a community college graduate myself and I know what it's like to have an educational dream and find an institution that is going to help support you to get to your final ultimate educational goals. I know what that is about because that was my path. I think that is just thrilling quite frankly."
White's presidency has not been entirely free of tension. The administration and the faculty are currently embroiled in a contract dispute.
"In terms of the faculty union we are in fact-finding and we are working on getting an agreement and I believe we will get one," said White. "I think (the board of trustees is) working really hard to work on a consensus level. And it's not easy getting to an agreement, just look at the United States Congress."
Fact-finding involves a neutral third party from the public employment relation board, who looks at the facts of the dispute and writes a report, making a recommendation to the board of trustees. The board then reviews the recommendation, and chooses to either accept of reject the report. "We are moving towards that," said White. "But we're not there yet."
These issues, White noted, are not new to COM. "I was reading about 'Red' Diamond and some of the issues that he was dealing with during his time here as president. The same issues were at stake, except in his case he was literally laying people off. The budget situation was so dire during that time that people were losing their jobs. We haven't had to do that during my tenure, fortunately."
White acknowledges that the economy has thrust other difficulties upon the college, and that whoever takes over will have many challenges ahead.
According to White, a presidential replacement should be, "someone with experience, a background in community college teaching and learning, (who has familiarity) with fund raising, bond programs, finance, educational management, fiscal management (and who) has a real grasp of the budget and fiscal matters. I'd add all of those up and say that would be pretty much a good profile for whomever they choose to hire."
Regarding COM's future President White said, "I want them to be successful. I'm wishing them success. Success for the institution and the new CEO and if (the board is) not lucky in their search, I'm sure the search firm will help them locate someone to fill the spot until they are successful, whoever that might be."
White's last day at the college will be June 30.
White's presidency has not been entirely free of tension. The administration and the faculty are currently embroiled in a contract dispute.
"In terms of the faculty union we are in fact-finding and we are working on getting an agreement and I believe we will get one," said White. "I think (the board of trustees is) working really hard to work on a consensus level. And it's not easy getting to an agreement, just look at the United States Congress."
Fact-finding involves a neutral third party from the public employment relation board, who looks at the facts of the dispute and writes a report, making a recommendation to the board of trustees. The board then reviews the recommendation, and chooses to either accept of reject the report. "We are moving towards that," said White. "But we're not there yet."
These issues, White noted, are not new to COM. "I was reading about 'Red' Diamond and some of the issues that he was dealing with during his time here as president. The same issues were at stake, except in his case he was literally laying people off. The budget situation was so dire during that time that people were losing their jobs. We haven't had to do that during my tenure, fortunately."
White acknowledges that the economy has thrust other difficulties upon the college, and that whoever takes over will have many challenges ahead.
According to White, a presidential replacement should be, "someone with experience, a background in community college teaching and learning, (who has familiarity) with fund raising, bond programs, finance, educational management, fiscal management (and who) has a real grasp of the budget and fiscal matters. I'd add all of those up and say that would be pretty much a good profile for whomever they choose to hire."
Regarding COM's future President White said, "I want them to be successful. I'm wishing them success. Success for the institution and the new CEO and if (the board is) not lucky in their search, I'm sure the search firm will help them locate someone to fill the spot until they are successful, whoever that might be."
White's last day at the college will be June 30.
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