Administration restructured to reduce costs

The college made three additions to its staff and shuffled some positions in mid-December, mainly in the Human Resources (HR) department.

MHCC President Michael Hay wrote by e-mail on Dec. 10 that staffing restructuring and changes were made to “reduce administrative expenses and seek a sustainable long-term budget.”

The e-mail outlined recent resignations, new hires, and department restructuring heading into the new year.

The lone resignation was that of Mara Kershaw, who served in HR for 22 months. The e-mail said she is turning her focus to developing a business and remains available to assist MHCC with any projects in the coming weeks.

As Kershaw vacated the Chief Human Resources Officer position, MHCC decided to combine three departments under one administrator.

As of Dec. 10, the HR, Public Safety, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments have a single administrator. Gale Blessing, the director of public safety and EHS as well as the campus Affirmative Actions Officer now also serves as director of HR, Labor Relations, and Safety.

Blessing has more than 30 years of experience and, according to the e-mail, the college is “confident in Gale’s ability and experience to assume this responsibility.”

Concurrent with these changes, Wayne Feagle is changing roles in the Public Safety office. He will assume the role of Public Safety Supervisor.

Three additions were made to the MHCC staff over the winter break. Sharon Gattman previously worked with the Head Start program and has now assumed the role of HR Generalist.

Kim Braxton has joined the campus from Phoenix, Ariz. Her position was not stated clearly, but Hay wrote that she has “a wealth of experience in classification/compensation, as well as triple certifications in those areas.”

The final addition is that of Christopher Mahoney, as a Distance Learning Instructional Technology Specialist, effective Jan. 3.