Two Interim College Presidents Selected

Two administrators in the North Orange County Community College District have been picked to temporarily lead their schools until permanent presidents are selected, district officials said Monday.

Jane Armstrong, currently vice president of instruction at Fullerton College, will become acting president of the school July 1, district spokeswoman Donna Hatchett said.

Elma Clamp, who recently retired as vice president of administrative services at Cypress College, will assume the presidency of Cypress College on Aug. 15.

The district’s board of trustees voted to appoint both officials until a search is completed for permanent presidents for each college.

Both schools expect to finish their searches by winter and install presidents by Jan. 1.

Neither official applied for the full-time openings, Hatchett said.

The Fullerton College presidency came open when President Philip Borst, who served for 17 years, announced he will retire at the end of June.

Armstrong, 60, is familiar with the Fullerton campus. She has worked at Fullerton College for 32 years, Hatchett said, and has been vice president of instruction for the past 16 years.

A graduate of the University of Redlands, Armstrong joined Fullerton College as an English teacher in 1962. Armstrong, of Fullerton, progressed to become associate dean of instruction in 1975 and dean of instruction by 1978, Hatchett said.

At Cypress College, Clamp will take his second interim term as president. He served for a few months as acting president in 1987, Hatchett said.

Tom K. Harris Jr., North Orange County’s district chancellor, has been serving both as chancellor and as Cypress College’s president for the past two years. Cypress has not had a separate president since Kirk Avery’s resignation in 1992.

Clamp, of Anaheim, graduated from Anaheim High School in 1952. He attended Fullerton College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in American history from Cal State Long Beach. He has been at Cypress College, in various administrative posts, for 25 years.

Clamp, 60, said he looks forward to serving as interim president. “I’m enthusiastic,” he said. “I think it’s a nice way to end my career.”

Fullerton and Cypress colleges are two of four Orange County colleges and universities that are looking to fill top-level leadership positions.

UC Irvine officials have narrowed their list of candidates for executive vice chancellor, the second-highest position at the university, down to four people.

Irvine Valley College officials are interviewing 15 candidates for the school’s open president slot and hope to pick between three and seven finalists by Friday, Saddleback Community College District spokeswoman Diane Riopka said.