New president’s salary comparable to former president

Incoming MHCC President Debra Derr will be paid a salary of $177,000 in the first year of a three-year contract, following district board action earlier this month.

In comparison, current President Michael Hay was paid the equivalent of $165,000 in his first year as interim president. Hay’s first year was a partial year of 260 days as he took over from John Sygielski. Sygielski had a salary of $177,635 at the time he left MHCC a little under two years ago.

The district board approved the Derr contract May 8. She will officially take over as president on July 1. Hay will retire at the end of June after serving MHCC for two years.

Derr has declined to be interviewed until she assumes her presidency in July.

Derr participated in an April 5 public forum for presidential candidates, along with co-finalist Jacob Ng, and talked about her leadership philosophies and plans she had for MHCC.

She explained her past roles as an adviser, counselor, dean, vice president, and president of North Iowa Area Community College. She has also held senior administrative positions at MHCC and Clackamas Community College.

She said, “In every one of those roles, I have had a focus on the success of students. I believe when the students are successful, the college is successful and our communities reflect that success.”

As a community college president, she said she has had to look at what she has to offer because her decisions are so vital to the school. She added how the decisions she would be making would be influenced by her personal values.

She said her “decisions will be based in evidence, but also based in the values” that she holds. “The values that are very near and dear to me include transparency, trust, honesty, inclusion, and participation.”

Derr described the type of leader she believes she is and talked about the importance of support from the people around her. She said, “I never want to stop that journey to become a good leader.”

She emphasized the importance of a good leader utilizing the strengths of others around her when she said, “I know I’m not going to be an expert in everything, but when the people around me do well and the people around me shine, I know I will shine.”

Asked about her administrative philosophy with respect to working with the district board, Derr again referenced the importance of utilizing the strength and support of others around her. “I am very collaborative. To be successful, it is not about being one person,” she said.

She added, “It is not about a single entity. It is about community, and that community includes the board, college president, the people, the foundation board, (and) business administrative.”

Associated Student Government President William Miller asked Derr how she deals with difficult relationships between the student body and the administration. She said the solution for these conflicts was involvement on the part of the students.

She spoke about her responsibilities as a president and how it is important to make sure “the students (are) involved and engaged as part of a participatory government and that means that you’re at the table and that means that there should not be surprises.”

Derr told a story about her time in administration at another school to illustrate this statement. The school was looking at ways to avoid increases in student activity fees that support athletics and student clubs. The tuition had been steadily increasing and they were proposing elimination of one of their sports. The students were actively involved, challenged the administration and, following those the discussions, the administration realized that being an athlete taught leadership skills needed outside of sports. She said the leadership skills gained in athletics gave them a means that they could document student-learning outcomes outside of the classroom.

The involvement of the students helped to eliminate this conflict and Derr said her philosophy that there should “always (be) students at the table” proved to be effective.