Chancellor Eager to Boost Enrollment

Philip Westin, the new chancellor of Ventura County’s three community colleges, isn’t wasting any time attacking what he sees as the district’s biggest problem: declining enrollment.

Telling trustees that the three-campus district stands to lose $2.1 million if it doesn’t act immediately to lure back students, Westin said he plans to form a committee of district instructors, managers and non-teaching staff to devise a specific plan to bring at least 1,550 students back to Ventura County’s community colleges no later than next year.

“Some good planning has taken place, but we need to do some more,” Westin said at his first board meeting after joining the district Jan. 2.

Since 1992, enrollment has dropped districtwide by 16% to 25,734.

Colleges that are combating declining enrollment have three years to replace lost students before the state permanently reduces their funding, Westin said.

Although the Ventura County Community College District has 2 1/2 years to restore enrollment, Westin said he expects to boost the numbers much sooner.

Trustees hailed Westin’s aggressive approach and offered some of their own suggestions.

Trustee Norm Nagel urged the board to explore ways in which it can attract disabled students to the district.

Currently, there are 13,600 special- education students in the county’s 21 school districts, according to Peggy Rose, an advocate for the disabled who was invited by Nagel to speak to the board.

“It seems like this is an untapped source on the community and I would like to see us pursue it aggressively,” Nagel said.