PORT ANGELES — The recent boom in college enrollment is about to slow, and community colleges need to be ready to make quick and possibly painful adjustments, John R. Langrell III, finalist for the position of Peninsula College president, said at a Port Angeles forum.
Smaller high school graduating classes and a growing elder population will result in fewer students and higher tuition rates than have been seen in the past decade, Langrell told about a dozen people at the forum Wednesday evening.
“Community colleges had better deliver an extraordinary educational experience,” he said.
But Langrell, 54, said he believes that schools with medical training programs are poised to benefit as more baby boomers enter their senior years.
“I’m worried about the shortage of nurses. We’ve got to get busy yesterday,” he said.
He added that the need for trained professionals in nursing and other medical care fields also represents an opportunity and called Peninsula College’s Allied Health Center a potentially world-class medical training program.
Langrell, who is the executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn., also appeared at community forums in Forks and Port Angeles on Wednesday and was in Port Townsend on Thursday.
He is one of three finalists for the Peninsula College presidency, a post vacated last month by Tom Keegan, who left after 10 years to lead Skagit Valley College. Serving as interim president is Brinton Sprague, a retired community college leader now living in Port Ludlow.
A field of four
The other finalists are:
■ Dorothy J. Duran, vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
She appeared in Forks and Port Angeles on Thursday, and will attend a forum at 1 p.m. today at the chapel at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend.
■ 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.
All candidate public forums in Port Angeles begin at 5:30 p.m. in Keegan Hall on the main campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The Port Townsend forums are at 1 p.m. at the chapel at Fort Worden State Park.
The trustees expect to name a new president at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, March 20, at 2 p.m. in the Cornaby Center, Room A-12, on the Peninsula College main campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. in Port Angeles, following a noon executive session.
Langrell has been executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Minnesota since 2005.
The college, with an enrollment of 4,400, was established in 1996 as an umbrella institution that combined five existing community colleges and vocational schools to serve rural communities south of Minneapolis.
During Langrell’s time at Riverland, the college founded five community leadership programs throughout southeast Minnesota, created the Professional Intercollegiate Education Center at Owatonna Hospital and achieved accreditation of selected online degrees.
He also served as chief administrative officer for the Owatonna College and University Center from 2005 to 2008 and as chief student affairs officer from 2005 to 2010.
Native of Oregon
Langrell is no stranger to the Washington higher education system and the Pacific Northwest.
He grew up in Roseburg, Ore., and worked in timber and commercial fishing as a teenager and young adult, he said.
He noted that working while going to school should be considered an extracurricular activity, alongside sports, student government and other non-classroom activities.
Even part-time employment offers skills that can’t be taught in school, he added.
He served as vice president of instruction and chief workforce officer and as instructional director of vocational-technical and continuing education for 17 years at Walla Walla Community College.
During that time, Langrell occasionally worked with Keegan.
Keegan worked at Columbia Basin Community College while Langrell was at Walla Walla, and they met at regional college events.
Langrell also was director of student services personnel-chief student affairs officer for the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho.
He earned his doctorate in higher education from the Florida State University College of Education in Tallahassee, Fla.
His degree in vocational teacher education, master’s of education in guidance and counseling and bachelor’s in psychology are all from the University of Idaho.
Langrell and his wife, Vicki Langrell, have three children, ages 14, 11 and 7.
Vicki Langrell is a former Fortune 500 executive and 17-year Army veteran who served in the White House Communications Agency, he said.
In addition to their public sessions, each of the four finalists met with Peninsula College trustees this week 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.
