Candidates Offer Views on Leading Mission College

Mission College’s presidential search process entered the final rounds Monday, with two of four final candidates making campaign-style appearances before students, faculty and college trustees.

Celia Barberena and Karen Sue Grosz both emphasized their commitment to shared governance and to serving diverse campuses. About 70% of Mission’s 7,000 students are Latinos.

Barberena, vice president of student services at Hartnell Community College in Salinas, spoke before about 80 people at a 6:30 p.m. appearance. Grosz, chief academic and student affairs officer of the Connecticut Community College System, spoke before about twice as many people at a similar forum 90 minutes later.

Barberena emphasized her Latino heritage--she came to the U.S. from Nicaragua in 1966--and her efforts to provide support for her mostly Latino student body at Hartnell College.

“There are very few women and very few Latinas who are presidents of community colleges,” she said.

Grosz, the only finalist who is not a Latino, talked about her commitment to diversity in hiring and her intention to include Latino leaders in discussions about the future direction of the college. She also said students must come first.

“Many problems can be resolved by serving student needs,” she said.

The other finalists are Adriana Barrera, former president of El Paso Community College in Texas, and Thomas Morales, vice president of City College of New York. They are scheduled to appear on campus at separate forums tonight.

All four finalists will be interviewed by Los Angeles Community College District trustees and Chancellor Mark Drummond this week.

The trustees, two of whom attended Monday’s forums, are expected to make a decision by next month.

Barberena emphasized her belief in allowing faculty and students to have a say in administrative decisions.

Grosz also supports the concept and helped draft state law implementing shared governance when she was president of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

Barberena repeatedly pledged to listen to “all the different voices” that make up the Mission College community before deciding on a course of action.

Known for her ability to identify external funding sources, Barberena said she would look for similar opportunities at Mission. She also said she wanted to encourage more high school students to seek a college education, and to beef up academic counseling to encourage more Mission students to seek transfers to four-year universities.

“If a student doesn’t have the idea [of transferring] in their head, it is very hard to make transferring a reality,” Barberena said.

Grosz listed six priorities at Mission College: budgets, diversity, curriculum development, governance, online education and accountability.

On budgets, Grosz said she has imposed fiscal discipline on multimillion-dollar organizations and lobbied successfully for additional funds as needed. On diversity, Grosz said “a diverse faculty and staff should serve a diverse student population.”

As for curriculum development, a task Grosz has direct control over in the Connecticut Community College System, Grosz emphasized the need to adjust course offerings to the needs of the community and to the requirements of California’s two university systems.

Like Barberena, Grosz said she was committed to an inclusive form of governance that took into account the interests of faculty, staff, students and community members.