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Uploaded: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 12:13 PM
Marin college presidents' shuffle
White retires early, Fink extends tenure
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by Samantha Campos
This week College of Marin President Frances White announced her retirement at the end of the current school year--a year before her contract is scheduled to end. The 62-year-old said her decision came from a desire to pursue other interests and spend more time with her family. White has held the position since 2004 and despite an unresolved battle with the faculty union over instructor wages, she is being credited for helping turn the college around in leadership, financial planning, accreditation and enrollment--which has been increasing over the past year.
In other college news, Dominican University of California President Joseph R. Fink has announced his retirement at the end of the 2010-2011 school year--serving an additional year beyond his original retirement date. Fink, who was appointed the university's eighth president in 1988, is the "longest sitting president among all Bay Area institutions of higher learning," according to a press release. During his tenure, the San Rafael campus was renovated, enrollment has quadrupled and revenues have increased eight-fold.
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Posted by Louise L Mathews, a resident of the San Anselmo neighborhood, on Nov 18, 2009 at 1:46 pm In a failed economy, college enrollment increases. Financial planning consists of longterm leases of College of Marin land/building area for commercial development. Budgets and Audits were a calculator's nightmare to the taxpayers.
What President White has left in her wake is:
a retail park at the entry to Kent Woodlands,
campuses ravaged by pro-development interests,
wistful money-grubbers taking advantage of zoning from educational to "gosh-almighty, who knew...",
plans for expanded infill workforce housing, and
no educational future.
Congratulations President White. Your departure is appreciated even though it is not soon enough.
llm
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Posted by Beverly H., a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Nov 19, 2009 at 7:47 am Her retiring does not surprise me...After all what must her retirement package be. In my opinion she has done absolutely nothing to improve COM, but the real people to blame for this would be the Board of Directors. They appointed her and actually gave her a raise!! Her per student enrollment salary was much higher than that of the Presidents of UC Berkeley and Stanford. That is a true travesty. Let's hope the next Pres. does better not only for themselves but for the college as well.
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Posted by CoM Watcher, a resident of the Kentfield neighborhood, on Nov 19, 2009 at 6:40 pm The school has a budget of 63 million dollars and 6 thousand students. Do the math. She's the highest paid do-nothing sucking at the public trough. Good riddance.
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Posted by Not Surprised, a resident of the Greenbrae neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2009 at 11:16 am I wish she had retired while there was still time to stop the devastating effect her tenure has had on COM. There is an all-pervasive sense that she is leaving a shambles in her wake: the Emeritus Program, run by an incompetent, untrained assistant clerk, is only one example.
Obviously, President White is retiring early because she has absolutely no idea how to fix all the chaos she has fostered.
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Posted by College Watcher, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Nov 23, 2009 at 9:17 am These sound like comments from COM faculty who are angry that they haven't received another raise in their already too high salaries. If you look at where COM was before she came, almost everything is better. Enrollment is up; Indian Valley has a purpose and is alive; the budget is in decent shape in spite of the economy; facilities are being updated; transfer rate is still good last I heard; accreditation problems are in the past. Maybe she hasn't been the best possible president, but she sure has seemed better than recent comparisons.
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Posted by ldf, a resident of the Marinwood neighborhood, on Nov 23, 2009 at 7:45 pm President White has been a disaster in motion.
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Posted by LOL, a resident of the Corte Madera neighborhood, on Nov 25, 2009 at 10:02 am In my view she has done absolutely nothing to improve COM, but the real people to blame for this is the Board of Directors. It is unbelievable that they did not close Indian Valley and consolidate in Kentfield.
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Posted by UR Clueless, a resident of the Kentfield neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2009 at 10:01 pm She has done some good, and made some mistakes. But compared to where the school was headed she did a fine job. But more importantly she allowed some of the dedicated faculty to do their job. Not all of the faculty are money grubbers, and yes the current round of negotiations is a disaster. But that is both because of the absurd fact that the district has s lawyer as their chief negotiator, as well as the fact that the people in charge of the faculty union only care about money.
The reality is more basic than any of the stupid comments above....the reality is the students who go to COM get a quality education, and have, year after year, obtained higher GPAs upon graduation from Cal, Davis, SFSU etc. than students who began their college work at those institutions. So while everyone can snipe about money and pointing fingers, there are some great instructors and programs and dedicated students all doing what they came to do. Teach and learn.
The one thing that the above comments seem to have in common, and the one thing I agree with, is the Board of trustees are a joke. Micromanaging, ridiculous, vengeful are only a few of the words that describe them. They should all be recalled.
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