VAN NUYS : Acting College Chief Gets Permanent Post

The Los Angeles Community College District’s board of trustees on Wednesday ended a yearlong, nationwide search for a new president of Valley College by naming acting president Tyree Wieder to the post.

Wieder, a 48-year-old Chatsworth resident, has served as acting president since April, 1994, when former president Mary Lee took over as president at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

The appointment was not much of a surprise--Wieder, who served as vice president of academic affairs for four years before taking on the acting president’s mantle, has been a popular administrator with faculty, staff and students.

After the announcement at the board’s downtown offices, Wieder described the Van Nuys college as an “institution in transition.”

Wieder said she places a priority on reorienting the campus toward the older, returning students who are an increasing part of the student body; the average student age, she said, is 28.

She said she will also continue to urge the school toward technological improvements. As it stands, she said, the campus is not wired for cable television.

Valley College serves about 16,000 students, down somewhat over the past few years as a result of the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the economy. Wieder, however, said she expects enrollment to remain the same for fall registration.

Wieder was born in South-Central Los Angeles. She received her bachelor’s and master’s of arts degrees from Cal State Northridge and is working on her doctorate in education at UCLA. She came to Valley College from Mission College in Sylmar, where she worked in several administrative posts from 1981 to 1989.

She described her current salary as being in the “$80,000-range,” adding that she did not know whether her new status would mean an increase in her income.

Wieder said she did not expect much to change, now that her new role has been confirmed.

“When I was sitting in the seat doing the job, I did the job,” she said. “For the manner in which I operate, it doesn’t make a difference.”