Community Colleges Get Interim Chief

John D. Randall, president of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, has been named interim chancellor of the California Community Colleges until a successor is found for Joshua Smith, who resigned Aug. 12.

Randall, 56, who said he will not be a candidate for the permanent position, was chosen Wednesday by the colleges’ Board of Governors. He will begin Oct. 1 and will continue for six months or until the new chancellor is chosen, a spokesman for the community colleges said.

Smith, 52, will leave Sept. 30 to become president of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, N.J. In announcing his resignation after two years as the head of California’s 70 two-year college districts, Smith said he was frustrated with bureaucratic obstacles that “make it impossible to accomplish anything.”

Criticizing a system that is largely regulated by the state Legislature, Smith had sought a restructuring that would have given the chancellor and governing boards of California’s community colleges more authority.

Randall said he intends to urge the Legislature to pass a community college reform bill that would pump $100 million into the system.

Randall has been president and superintendent of Mt. San Antonio College since 1977. A spokesman in the Sacramento office of the California Community Colleges said he was chosen as interim chancellor because he is familiar with the system and is not a candidate for the permanent position. His salary has not been announced.