Four more years for GCC president

Glendale Community College has extended President/Supt. Dawn Lindsay’s contract through June 2015.

The college Board of Trustees voted to extend the existing contract during a closed session meeting on Nov. 21, according to Donna Voogt, administrative dean of human resources.

Lindsay was named interim president in May 2009 following the resignation of Audre Levy. One year later, the college hired her with a permanent, three-year contract through June 2013.

In her time as president, Lindsay has guided the college through crushing state funding cuts that have forced class reductions and concessions with employee unions to save money.

In the most recent agreement reached with the college’s faculty union, instructors could take an additional 3.95% pay cut in the worst case scenario if state revenues fail to meet expectations. The community college system is primarily funded by the state, so budget cuts in Sacramento almost always trickle down.

“It is kind of an affirmation that the person is doing a good job, that the board is happy,” Voogt said. “The maximum contract length is four years, so they roll forward with that time frame.”

According to the terms of the contract, Lindsay earned $195,432, plus a doctoral stipend, during the 2010-11 school year. But the president, along with other members of the management staff, accepted a 5% pay cut for the current school year as the college reduced expenses.

Extending a president’s contract before it expires is common practice at community colleges, Voogt said.