PORT ANGELES — Strong ties with alumni, local business leaders and state and federal lawmakers to offer students the best education possible would be a major focus for Dorothy J. Duran if she were selected to be the next president of Peninsula College.
“The most important thing is building relationships,” Duran, 54, told about 15 people at a Port Angeles public forum Thursday.
She was the last of four finalists for the post to be featured at public forums in Port Angeles, Forks and Port Townsend.
Brinton Sprague, a retired community college leader now living in Port Ludlow, has served as interim president since Tom Keegan left after 10 years to lead Skagit Valley College.
Peninsula College trustees hope to name Keegan’s successor Tuesday, March 20, when they will open the regular session at 2 p.m. in the Cornaby Center, Room A-12, following a noon executive session on the Peninsula College main campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. in Port Angeles.
Alumni dinners
Developing strong ties would include hosting legislators for campus tours and holding alumni dinners and recognition events on campus, Duran said.
“Community college alumni donations [nationwide] are only about 15 percent less than four-year universities,” she said.
Those donations, Duran said, pay for the things that dwindling state funding can no longer cover, including lab materials and equipment.
Duran is currently vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
She appeared at public forums in Forks and Port Angeles on Thursday and in Port Townsend on Friday.
Iowa Western Community College was founded in 1967 and has an enrollment of about 5,500 students in 84 vocational, technical and arts and sciences transfer programs.
Returning to roots
Duran said she entered the community college world as a financial aid counselor with the intent of returning to her roots as an elementary school teacher.
Students came to Duran with their problems and struggles, outlining the reasons why college wasn’t working for them.
Listening to their problems, she realized that what was actually happening wasn’t always the same as the staff’s perception of the problem, she said.
“I wanted to be in a position to do something about it,” she said.
The other finalists are:
■ Luke P. Robins, chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, La.
Robins visited Port Angeles and Forks on Monday and Port Townsend on Tuesday.
■ Cheri A. Jimeno, president of New Mexico State University, Alamogordo, in Alamogordo, N.M.
Jimeno was in Port Angeles and Forks on Tuesday and Port Townsend on Wednesday.
■ John R. (Ron) Langrell III, executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn.
Langrell was in Port Angeles and Forks on Wednesday and Port Townsend on Thursday.
As vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College, a position Duran has held since 2006, she supervises five academic divisions, one branch campus and four educational centers.
Prior to her work in Iowa, Duran served as dean and director of the El Rito campus of Northern New Mexico College and also worked at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, and at the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute in New Mexico.
Two reasons to apply
Duran said she chose to apply for Peninsula College for two reasons.
“First, it stood out that this college is very student-focused,” Duran said.
Second was that the school has a close relationship with the area tribes, she said.
During her years in New Mexico, Duran worked with 18 Pueblo tribes, attempting to recruit Pueblo students and urge them to remain in college and earn advanced degrees.
Duran said she makes it a personal goal to make a difference in the number of Native American with bachelor and advanced degrees and intends to work closely with the five North Olympic Peninsula tribes.
“I will do my best to build on the relationship that has already begun,” she said, referring to the building of the Longhouse and other programs during Keegan’s tenure.
Duran herself is half Ute but has never been part of the Ute tribal community in southern Colorado, she said.
Duran has two children in college and is not now married.
In addition to their public sessions, each of the four finalists met with faculty and staff and with Peninsula College trustees in closed executive sessions on the Port Angeles campus.
For more information on the finalists and the college president search, visit www.pc.ctc.edu.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
