MHCC leaders leaving

‘Strong leader’ retires – again

Bill Farver’s journey as interim vice president of administrative Services is coming to an end — but it lasted much longer than expected.

Farver was hired out of retirement on a part-time interim basis and believed the position would only be for several months. Almost three years later, he plans to retire again.

“I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Bill Farver,” said Pam Benjamin, executive assistant to the president and who works in the same office as Farver. “He encouraged his direct reporters and his staff to be the best they could be. He gave his staff confidence and I could see that.”

Farver had previously retired after being the executive assistant at Portland Public Schools. He also had a 17-year career with Multnomah County, including positions ranging from working for a county commissioner to chief operating officer.

“This has been the third time I’ve left an organization in which people thought I was retiring, but I wasn’t sure,” Farver, 65, said.

Soon after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a major in education, Farver and a college friend, Doug Sherman, developed a program for high school freshman and sophomore students who were on the verge of dropping out. He spent seven years teaching this program, called the Cleveland Option Program, at Cleveland High School.

“It was rewarding and exhausting and I had to leave when I started losing my sense of humor,” he said with a chuckle.

“I didn’t know anything about community colleges,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.”

During his time at MHCC, he focused on two main areas: decreasing the budget deficit of nearly $8 million, and increasing college morale.

“I think the college has made a lot of strides in terms of budget stability, and I think the administrative team, which is a group I have worked with, is a much stronger group and are just having a chance to show their individual skills and their team skills much more.”

Laurie Linn, executive coordinator who worked closely with Farver, said, “Bill was a strong leader. He was a very invested mentor. He built a lot of trust within his team.”

His said his strategies for increasing morale were as follows: “With the administrative team, it was doing a lot of listening and giving people a chance to talk about what had happened and get support for that. In terms of the overall college, it was trying to set a tone for getting back to the use of college councils.”

The most rewarding piece of his time at MHCC was “working individually with the people on my administrative services team and seeing their growth and enthusiasm for their work. Their intelligence and their passion for the school come through on a daily basis,” Farver said.

“As I leave Mt. Hood, I’m excited about the leadership of Debbie Derr (the new college president). I think the college has someone who’s committed to staying and really has the skills set to have an impact here.”

Farver said he isn’t sure what retirement will hold for him, but he is sure he will try to exercise and see friends more often.

“I’ve really been fortunate in terms of the quality of people I work with and the opportunities I’ve had. I have no regrets about the jobs I’ve been blessed to be given opportunities on.”

Linn said, “If you didn’t get a chance to know him while he was here, you missed knowing a wonderful human being.”

Irwin to sign off after 27 ‘wonderful’ years

Ursula Irwin, MHCC associate vice president of instruction, will log her last day on campus today, after announcing her retirement in December.

Irwin has spent 27 years as a faculty member, dean and vice president at Mt. Hood.

“I’ve had a wonderful time here,” she said. She described her colleagues as “treasured” and said, “I’ve worked with wonderful people all over the campus.”

Irwin said retirement came naturally, but she’s positive about the state of the college. “We have the best teachers here,” she said.

Her colleagues offered similar praise.

“She’s fantastic. She had wonderful follow-through and she’s passionate, said Garie Zordich, Humanities Department administrative assistant and the assistant to Irwin while she was humanities dean for three years.

“A real advocate for the department and for the college… one of the best deans we’ve ever had in this department,” Zordich said.

Humanities instructor Holly Degrow said, “I really think Ursula had a nice sense of humor and a great way with students… she had high standards.”

A retirement party was held Monday for Irwin in the Mt. Hood Office of Instruction.

“We’re going to miss her terribly,” said Zordich. “What else can you say about someone who dedicated practically her whole adult life to the institution?”