Mission President to Transfer : Education: Jack Fujimoto, leader of youngest school in college district, will leave Sylmar campus to spend at least a year Downtown to help raise funds.

Mission College President Jack Fujimoto will be transferred Downtown for at least a year to help the financially ailing Los Angeles Community College District find desperately needed public and private funding, district officials said Wednesday.

The announcement of Fujimoto’s departure from the Sylmar campus will be made today at a districtwide meeting at Mission College, officials said.

William E. Norlund, vice president of academic affairs at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, will replace Fujimoto as interim president at Mission.

News of Fujimoto’s transfer comes as the nine-campus district, the nation’s largest two-year college district, seeks critical sources of outside funding--including federal grants--in the wake of state budget cutbacks, declining enrollment and other financial stresses.

But Fujimoto’s departure will leave Mission College--the district’s youngest and smallest campus----without steady leadership at a time when enrollment is down nearly 19% from its peak in 1992.

The college’s enrollment dwindled to fewer than 6,000 this fall, in part because of the Jan. 17 earthquake.

It is unclear exactly when Fujimoto, 65, will begin his new assignment, which was characterized as “temporary” by district officials. Fujimoto, who is considered an expert at finding and cultivating a variety of sources for education funding, has said he wants the status of his new position to be reviewed regularly.

Chancellor Neil Yoneji, Fujimoto, Norlund and other top district administrators were attending a district retreat Wednesday and were unavailable for comment.

Some Mission College professors have expressed concern that the change will delay a planned 40-acre expansion of the college and other projects--including construction of the much anticipated $11-million library and learning resource center. Work began on that facility in late September.

But others praised the move, saying it is a crucial step toward shoring up funding gaps and expanding the financial reach of the college district.

“This is the new reality for the world’s largest community college district--that we have to look outside the state for sources of funding,” said Charles Dirks, legislative advocate for the American Federation of Teachers union and a political science professor at Mission.

“Jack is perfectly suited for the job,” said Dirks, who added that he will be working closely with Fujimoto to generate federal funds for the district.

Dirks said Fujimoto is adept at maneuvering within the complicated web of federal grant programs, and noted his previous success in obtaining federal “amnesty” funding for the college’s immigrant student population. The grant program allowed undocumented immigrants to learn English and critical job skills, while helping them become U.S. citizens.

Fujimoto’s contacts within Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration also are viewed as an asset to the district. He served as president of Sacramento City College in 1979, becoming the first Asian-American to preside over a community college in the United States.

But the president’s departure from the college is a blow to some community leaders, who said that Fujimoto brought a measure of stability, sensitivity and creativity to the job that will be hard to match.

“When you take away a leader of his stature, it leaves a big gap,” said Ed Kussman, president of the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the college’s advisory council.

“We have definite problems and resentments between different minorities in this area,” Kussman said. “Jack established himself as a fighter for all groups, and started important development programs for the community.”

Norlund, a physics professor who still teaches classes at Pierce, is characterized by educators as a hands-on administrator experienced in both the academic and business aspects of running a college.

“Jack was extremely politically oriented,” said Dale Newman, president of the Academic Senate at Mission College.

Newman participated in a selection panel that reviewed candidates for the interim presidency. “I see Bill as being here more often,” she said. “Jack was in Sacramento a lot, batting for the college. Bill seems genuinely excited about coming here, and I think he’s attracted by the technological capacity we’re building.”