Chancellor a Welcome Surprise

Half an hour into his tenure as the new chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District, Philip Westin caught his colleagues by surprise Tuesday.

In an office tour that included the workers who keep the district’s computer and telecommunications system running, the self-proclaimed computer nerd wowed the program analysts with his knowledge of telecommunications connectors, transmitters and bytes.

“It was not the type of knowledge you would expect a working executive to have,” said Mark Smith, a computer technician, after engaging in a high-tech discussion with the new chancellor about the district’s tele-transmitters.

But, the 50-year-old administrator has already managed to secure himself a reputation not only as a computer whiz, but also as an open, approachable manager with an eye for the long-term future of the district.

“I am looking at staying here 10 to 12 years and then retiring,” Westin said. “So I am not looking at finding easy, quick solutions. I am here to resolve issues and not put a finger in the dike.”

Officially, Westin assumed the mantle of running the three-campus district Tuesday, but district and campus officials say it feels as if he has been around a lot longer.

Since he was chosen from among 50 candidates on Nov. 6, Westin has commuted an hour, on average, three times a week to the district’s Ventura headquarters to meet individually with teachers, college presidents, district officials and union representatives.

“I think he has gone way above and beyond what would be expected of a chancellor [in order to] to get to know the office and hit the ground running,” said Jim Walker, who served a year as the interim chancellor but is now back to his post as president of Moorpark College.

The rash of meetings also helped solidify impressions of the chancellor search committee that Westin would be an open, approachable leader and one who cares about getting to know the people he will be working with.

Gary Morgan, president of the Oxnard Academic Senate, met one-on-one with the new chancellor within weeks of his appointment. “He came into my office and sat down, and I had a small boom box going, and he started a conversation about Vivaldi and fine art,” said Morgan. “We talked very little business, and I liked this.”

Though the new leader said he will still spend a great deal of time in the next few months getting to know his colleagues, he has less than two weeks to prepare for his first district board meeting on Jan. 16, where he faces a number of issues that have been put off until his arrival.

They include moving forward with plans to hire a new president at Ventura College, decentralizing district operations and reintroducing a so-called Sheriff’s Academy--a program that would train students to become police officers while earning credit for college courses at Ventura College.

His chief concern, though, will be to boost enrollment, which has declined 16% since the fall of 1992.

“Clearly the No. 1 agenda for us is to work on increasing enrollment,” he said. “We have the rest of this academic year and the following two years to do it, and I plan to let everyone know that.”

The district has 2 1/2 years to recoup the losses before the state permanently adjusts the enrollment figure for the colleges and reduces funding accordingly, Westin said.

Though a nagging problem, many officials have been looking for an enrollment gain this spring with the elimination of a $50 fee for students with bachelor’s degrees.

The district’s enrollment plummeted in the fall semester of 1993, a few months after the fee for four-year degree holders was raised from $6 to $50.

But though the new, low fee will help, Westin said it is far from a panacea.

“I think we will see students coming back,” he said. “But it is going to take some time.”

Though too early to tell whether the new fee is drawing more students, Ventura College has seen an 8% increase in registration over the same time last year, said interim President Larry Calderon.

Some faculty members, critical of district efforts to address declining enrollment, have lauded Westin’s emphasis on increasing the number of students.

“I agree with him 100%,” said Larry Miller, the newly elected president of the teachers union. “We are not being very imaginative in how we schedule classes and how we attract students.”

Another top priority, said Westin, is acting upon a proposal that would shift administrative responsibilities out of the central office and to the campuses.

A movement to grant the colleges more autonomy has swept the district ever since the death of the former chancellor, Thomas Lakin, in November 1994. Under Lakin’s administration, the district took on increasing responsibility for decisions--especially in financial matters--that traditionally took place at the college level.

Following his death, a task force was appointed to make recommendations on reorganizing the district.

But Westin said that before moving forward with those plans, he will gauge support from the district board for transferring some responsibilities, such as boosting enrollment, to the colleges and making them accountable for the results.

College officials believe they can attract students by adding more classes, he said.

“I don’t know how something as complex as this district can be run in a centralized mode,” he said. “I don’t think we should sit here in the district office and say Moorpark needs more English classes. But I am a real stickler for accountability. I need to know who I can hold accountable.”

Above all, Westin said he plans not to rush into any decisions.

With district reserves at their highest in five years and the beginning of the budget process more than a month away, he said he is in the unusual position of being able to take his time.

“Although money is tight, we’re not looking at financial chaos,” Westin said. “My perception is that things are working well, that students are getting educated. I don’t feel that we are looking at any crises. I feel like I don’t have to make massive shifts in a short amount of time.”