State 2-Year Colleges Get New Leader

Mark Drummond, head of the Los Angeles Community College District, will become the new chancellor of the state’s community college system, officials announced Monday.

He will replace retiring Chancellor Thomas J. Nussbaum in January. Drummond, 62, will take the helm of the network of 108 colleges, with about 2 million students, at a time of shrinking state budgets and a rising college-age population.

“It’s kind of the way I came to L.A. I’ll just take a deep breath and try again,” Drummond said, referring to his arrival in 1999 as chancellor of the nine-campus, 130,000-student Los Angeles district during a period of financial difficulty.

This year, state budget cuts led to a hike in community college fees from $11 a unit to $18 a unit. Course offerings were cut at many campuses statewide, and more students were packed into the remaining classes. Education and budget experts expect further cuts next year.

The state chancellor plays an important role as a lobbyist and advocate for the system, but has little authority over the community colleges, which are divided into 72 districts with their own elected trustees. Drummond has said it is a difficult job because local boards “make about 80% of the policy decisions.”

But Drummond believes he can build more clout for community colleges with the state Legislature and governor, as well as the public. He sees the University of California system, with its elaborate lobbying and public relations operations, as a model for building public support.

“Advocacy for students at the bottom end should be as sophisticated as that for those at the top end,” he said.

In Los Angeles, Drummond demonstrated his political skills by leading two successful bond campaigns for building projects, totaling more than $2 billion. Before his arrival, voters had rejected two such bond measures.

Catherine L. Unger, a Los Angeles public affairs consultant who is president of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, said the board chose Drummond because he stood out as someone “able to articulate a vision of where the community colleges should be in this state.”

Hundreds of thousands of additional students are expected to enroll in the state’s community colleges this decade because of a population spike as the children of baby boomers reach college age. On top of that flood of students, called “Tidal Wave II” by education officials, Drummond thinks community colleges need to play a leading role in training another massive, neglected segment of society.

He worries about the hundreds of thousands of Californians -- he contends as many as 900,000 -- age 18 to 24 with no high school diploma.

“We don’t have 800,000 or 900,000 carwash jobs in California.... It’s crazy and dysfunctional,” Drummond said. “These aren’t illegal immigrants; they’re California residents.”

He said community colleges, adult education and the K-12 education system need to work together to educate adults who do not have high school diplomas. “We need to sit down” to find a solution, he said, describing the problem as the state’s “dirty little secret.”

Mona Field, president of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, said Drummond’s concern for such students is one of his great strengths.

“That’s what is so wonderful, that Mark’s commitment to students who most need community colleges -- the low-income, immigrants -- will go with him to the state level,” she said. “He has a real passion to see the system is serving the underrepresented.”

Drummond came to the Los Angeles Community College District from Eastern Washington University, where he served as president for nearly 10 years and held several other administrative posts. He also had worked for several software companies.

A native of Palo Alto, Drummond has a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from San Jose State. An avid outdoorsman, he also raises mules, a hobby he hopes to continue after his move to Sacramento.

Outgoing Chancellor Nussbaum had announced his retirement in April. Nussbaum, who has worked in the state community college system office for 27 years, seven as chancellor, said he decided to step down because he turned 55 this year and became eligible for an attractive early retirement.