MHCC SEARCHES FOR VP OF INSTRUCTION

MHCC is on the search for a Vice President of Instruction (VPI) after college President Lisa Skari decided it was a necessary move in restructuring the administration by eliminating the Chief of Staff position.

On the first three days of May, three finalists for the job were brought in separately to spend a day on campus with various assembled groups to ask and answer questions. Groups included Mt. Hood faculty, students, the president’s executive cabinet, an open forum, and more.

Common themes brought up by students, staff, and faculty included the experiences of nontraditional students; the need for quick decisions to be made in this position; how communication issues can be solved; and how student affairs and instruction interact.

RUTHANNE ORIHUELA

Ruthanne Orihuela was the first candidate to visit.

She is currently the executive dean of arts and humanities at the Community College of Denver. She’s also currently working on a doctorate in Higher Education Student Affairs Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado.

Orihuela’s focus ideas include looking at the entire process of students starting at the college, from filling out the application to the first day of class, to see how complicated that process is and then work to make it more straightforward with tools such as Navigate, a software program designed to ease the registration and planning process.

“We need students to not get frustrated,” she said.

She said that planning goes beyond MHCC, too, and that students should feel supported in planning their futures beyond community college.

Orihuela also brought up institutional outcomes, which to her is posing the question, “What is an MHCC graduate?” and how the college hopes all of their students will be similar at the point of graduation. This can include teaching curriculum through diverse perspectives or wanting students to be up-to-speed with technological skills.

When she asked students if MHCC had institutional outcomes, the resounding response was, “If we do, we don’t know what they are.”

She talked about the importance of getting students through developmental education (math, reading, and writing prerequisites) as efficiently as possible so they’re more likely to make it into a program and complete that program, instead of feeling stuck in early courses.

During the open forum, she talked about her experience with a collegewide prioritization process and the idea that colleges need to identify what they’re doing well and expand on it by knowing where money should be invested to support more students.

This process means cutting programs that aren’t as strong as they used to be or don’t have high enrollment or job placement rates. She said it’s a tough process to go through, but that it can be done through a positive lens.

When asked by Mt. Hood’s Title III coordinator if she could make quick decisions, Orihuela said she’d hope she’d be given enough notice ahead of the July 1 start date to begin information gathering to help make decisions upon starting.

THOMAS BROXSON

VPI candidate, Thomas Broxson, spent May 2nd on campus.

Broxson is currently district dean of natural sciences and mathematics at Pierce College District in Lakewood and Puyallup, Washington (near Tacoma).

Similar to Orihuela, Broxson talked with students, staff, and faculty about guided pathways like the Navigate program as being key in helping to fix a lot of the issues the college now faces with students registering, planning, and completing their programs.

When nontraditional students expressed their needs, he said they really are the “typical” students at community colleges and that colleges need to adapt to the students they’re serving.

“You are the reason we’re here,” said Broxson.

He noted that society often tells us to just deal with the bureaucratic systems in place, but there’s no real reason we should have to. Colleges should be getting out of the way instead of creating more barriers on top of those already existing, he said.

Broxson talked a lot about the importance of data. He said he’s somewhat of a data-nut and enjoys sorting through any data he can get his hands on to identify problems and non-problems, to develop plans. He forms focus groups based on problems identified to find common causes and then to work for solutions. He said his first-year plan at MHCC would be poring over institutional data and meeting with various campus groups.

When asked about being able to make quick decisions very early into the job, Broxson said he’d be reluctant because it’s better to have more time and conversation to make the best choices.

In regards to communication, Broxson said that having college goals and making sure everyone is working toward them would help create more unified messaging. He also suggests finding what is working well in terms of communication on a smaller level, then scaling it up to work for everyone.

ALFRED MCQUARTERS

Alfred McQuarters visited the campus last, on May 3.

He currently serves as dean of math, science, health, physical education, and career technical education at the Portland Community College Southeast Campus. He’s wrapping up a doctorate degree in Adult Higher Education, Community College Leadership through Oregon State University.

A common theme for McQuarters was his stated ability to view issues through multiple lenses. He’s been a student, faculty member, dean, and department chair. His choice of subject to study for his doctorate program was a desire to expand on his experience by having more background to what he’s learned through his positions.

In approaching the VPI position, McQuarters said he would listen and understand work currently being done in managing ongoing projects, figuring out what to abandon, and planning the future of instruction. He stressed the importance of institutional knowledge here.

Describing his efforts toward better communication, he said he feels he’s learned a lot from working in large, multi-campus districts. He said there should be more transparency, meetings, and connection with leadership to make sure faculty feel plugged in. He said he’s accomplished this by having dedicated office hours open for faculty visits, the same way instructors hold office hours for students.

He’s also sometimes come into work outside of his normal hours to meet with instructors who work night and weekend classes because they’re serving nontraditional students on the campus and need to feel connected, just like faculty working weekday hours.

When it comes to cultural diversity at the college, McQuarters said, “More than the content, it’s how you deliver content.”

Examples of his work in inclusion include helping implement the use and identification of pronouns that individuals at PCC would like to go by so that staff, faculty, and students in the LGBTQ community feel more welcome there. He also described the identity cards he carries in his suit pocket: The cards list various minority groups so he is reminded of the various groups his decisions might affect to try to prevent unintended issues before they crop up.

When it comes to making quick decisions, McQuarters said it wouldn’t be an issue because part of his job would be to manage current projects and not just sit around, only listening and not taking action for a year. He said he’s good at multitasking.

When asked why he would want to leave PCC, he said it’s just part of his personal journey. In every higher position he’s taken on, he said it’s meant getting to impact more students. The VPI position would expand that even further for him, he said.

THE DECISION

A final decision on the VPI position is expected this month after the hiring committee reviews survey responses and then deliberates based on their own candidate interactions and interviews.

Regardless of the final selection, the three days of forums allowed staff, faculty, and students to reflect on their Mt. Hood experiences and how the college can work to improve systems for everyone.