Top Chancellor Finalist Revealed : Education: No offer has yet been made to Robert Jensen, the leader of an Orange County college district.

The leading candidate to be the new head of Ventura County’s three community colleges is Robert D. Jensen, chancellor of Rancho Santiago Community College District in Orange County.

Timothy Hirschberg, board president of the Ventura County Community College District, confirmed Friday that Jensen leads the four finalists under consideration for the chancellorship.

“We have not made him an offer,” Hirschberg said. “We are focusing on him at this point. That doesn’t mean the board has discarded the other three candidates.”

Hirschberg said Jensen will meet with the board privately Tuesday to discuss further the possibility of his taking the helm of the three-campus district.

Jensen could not be reached for comment Friday.

For six months, district officials have been searching for a new chancellor to replace Barbara Derryberry, 58, who announced last May that she would retire this June.

A selection committee composed of faculty, students, administrators and members of the community considered 60 applicants before narrowing the field to four last week.

Since 1984, Jensen, 50, has been chancellor of the Orange County district with campuses in Santa Ana and Orange. Student enrollment of credited courses is 25,000, with another 15,000 taking non-credit courses.

Before coming to Orange County, he was president of American River College and deputy chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District, both in Sacramento.

An Oakland native, he also held several administrative and teaching positions from 1969 to 1976 at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore. He received his doctoral degree in community college administration from Washington State University.

During his stint in Orange County, he has overseen development of a new campus in Orange that will be larger than the Rancho Santiago campus in Santa Ana, Orange County district officials said.

If he is offered the Ventura job and accepts, he will be coming to a district that has been embroiled in scandal the past year.

Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely was charged last August with conspiracy, embezzlement and fraud in connection with filing allegedly false travel claims with the district that amounted to about $15,000. Ely, who faces trial in May, has denied any impropriety.

Two months after Ely’s travel expenses came to light, Derryberry announced she would retire. She has denied her decision had anything to do with Ely. She will leave her post with the college at the end of June when the new chancellor takes over.

In recent months Jensen’s district has been embroiled in controversy as well.

Early this year two trustees asked the Orange County district attorney’s office to investigate the arrangement the district had with a private company holding weekly swap meets in a parking lot at the Santa Ana campus. The trustees alleged the district wasn’t getting its fair share of the proceeds from the meets.

Rudy Montejano, a Rancho Santiago board member, said Jensen had nothing to do with the swap meet dealings. The swap meets have ended, and the two board members were censured by the board for their actions, he said.

“Robert Jensen is the finest chief executive officer in California,” Montejano said.

Board member Pete Maddox, one of the two trustees who called for the investigation, had only praise for Jensen, who earns $102,980 annually from the district.

“He’s certainly very capable,” Maddox said. “Under his direction the district remained fiscally sound and a lot of good new projects were instituted.”

Derryberry said the Ventura board was aware of the swap meet controversy.

“It’s my understanding Dr. Jensen was not involved,” she said.

Others associated with the district who asked not to be identified said Jensen is an effective administrator but uses a strong, very controlling approach to management.

Hirschberg acknowledged Friday that Jensen is a strong leader, but praised his integrity and character.

In the past, Hirschberg has said the district needs a chancellor who is tough and can take the reins of the district. The board needs someone, he has said, to act as a watchdog over its finances.