Westside : College’s New Chief Is Winning Admirers
The new president of Santa Monica College, Piedad F. Robertson, minces no words about the sorry state of the college she was hired to run.
Robertson, the former Massachusetts secretary of education, says the junior college is technologically and organizationally challenged.
Besides, the restrooms stink.
Robertson’s frankness and collaborative management style have won her kudos from formerly leery faculty and staff members. Many of them had preferred an in-house candidate to replace longtime President Richard Moore, who resigned last fall.
“We have met more times in the past two weeks with [Robertson] than we did with Moore in his 20 years,” said Jim Prickett, president of the teachers union.
Though credited with building the school’s highly regarded academic standing, Moore apparently neglected fund-raising.
“We had a president who involved himself in such things as choosing the colors of the liberal arts building,” Prickett said.
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