Finalists for LTCC president meet with public, share their visions on moving college forward

Four candidates vying to become the next president of Lake Tahoe Community College met with the South Shore community last week.

The four candidates spoke at public forums at the college: Thom Armstrong and Lori Gaskin on Thursday; and David Rule and Paul Killpatrick on Friday.

Whoever is chosen will replace Guy Lease, who retired as college president last year, and become only the third president in the college's 33-year history.

The college's Board of Trustees is scheduled to announce its hiring choice at the next meeting April 29.

Eric Sturgess, president of the college's Academic Faculty Senate, said all the forums last week were excellent.

"It was insightful to see all the candidates' visions on how to lead the college," Sturgess said.

All four candidates have experience in administrative roles at community colleges and know the struggles of rural institutions.

Armstrong has extensive knowledge of the California community college system from his three years as president of Copper Mountain Community College, where he led a successful obligation bond campaign.

Gaskin brings an intimate knowledge of LTCC from her 16 years of working there, with seven years as vice president of academic affairs and student services, and as president of the California Community Colleges Chief Instructional Officers organization.

Rule has rural community college experience from serving as president of Muskegon Community College in Michigan for three years, overseeing the completion of a $7.2 million library.

During his six years as president of Great Basin College in Elko, Nev., Killpatrick helped raise full-time enrollment by 27 percent.

Sturgess said it's going to come down to the fit of candidate with the college and the community. He said the presidential search committee did a thorough job and is pleased with the choices.

During the forums, college employees and community members asked the candidates questions on such topics as faculty salaries, student involvement, the top three challenges for the college and how each would handle internal disagreements.

Armstrong addressed the fiscal challenge of small, rural colleges.

"Smaller colleges live close to the edge, especially in years of downturn," Armstrong said.

Gaskin said another challenge for the college is the socioeconomic health of the community. The college needs to expand partnerships with organizations in the community, such as the city and other entities.

For marketing the college, Rule offered ideas to attract the younger generation to LTCC, such as utilizing Facebook, YouTube and blogs.

"They are the Internet generation," Rule said.

Killpatrick emphasized the importance of transparency when talking about issues with the faculty and staff. The president isn't serving his purpose if everyone isn't working together, he said.

"It's like you're at the front of the parade and no one is following you," Killpatrick said.

Overall, all the candidates were incredibly strong, said Ari Kallish, LTCC student trustee.

Kallish said she wished more students would have attended the forums. On Thursday, three showed up, and on Friday, it was fewer.

Since it was the second week of spring quarter, Kallish said students still might be juggling their schedules, which could account for the low turnout.