Harbor College President Takes Interim Post

Robert S. Standen will serve as acting president of Harbor College while President James L. Heinselman, assists in the reorganization of the Los Angeles Community College District, officials said Wednesday.

Standen is academic vice president at the school.

Heinselman, who has headed Harbor College for nine years, will start Monday as acting vice chancellor for educational services at the Los Angeles district office. He said he expects to return to the Wilmington campus, possibly as early as next fall, unless he accepts a permanent post at the central office in Los Angeles.

“At this point, it’s very tentative,” Heinselman said. “If I can make a difference in the reorganization, if there is a long-term need for someone to fill this post and if I find I like working in the central office, then I’ll probably apply for the job.

“But at this point, my plans are to return to Harbor.”

As Harbor College president, Heinselman earned $75,000. He will receive $79,000 while serving as acting vice chancellor.

Heinselman was the principal author of a reorganization plan developed by a district committee last year in anticipation of a personnel change at the top levels of the junior college system.

The change, stemming from financial, management and enrollment problems, began in late 1987, when Chancellor Leslie Koltai resigned. His successor, Donald Phelps, took over Sept. 1, and during the interim between chancellors, most of the senior officials in the central office left for other jobs either in the district or elsewhere.

Enrollment in the nine-campus system fell from 135,500 in 1982 to 92,000 in 1985, a drop mostly attributed to the state’s imposition of a $50 student fee and the district’s decision to start the fall semester in August, three weeks before most public schools reopened.

At Harbor College, enrollment dropped sharply from 12,000 students in 1982, but has since stabilized at the 9,000 level, officials said.

The early start, designed to allow completion of the first semester before the Christmas break, shut out many students who were still tied up with summer activities when the college classes started, officials realized later.

106,000 Students

After two years, the early-start plan was abandoned and enrollment in the Los Angeles college system is currently about 106,000 students. Officials said they hope to make further enrollment gains through the reorganization plan.

A main feature of the plan, Heinselman said, is to decentralize the system, leaving the district headquarters mainly with the role of “servicing the individual colleges, instead of directing their operations.”

“Over the years, the district drifted toward a central bureaucracy, which made the decisions,” he said. “The thinking now is that many of these decisions should be made at the college level.”

Standen, 48, has been at the Wilmington campus for nine years, the last four as academic vice president. He held the same post at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and worked before that as a teacher and administrator on the West Los Angeles campus.