Local News

COCC Expected To Vote Today On Presidential Appointment

BEND, OR -- The Central Oregon Community College Board of Directors will vote tonight whether to formally appoint interim President Dr. Shirley Metcalf to the permanent position. COCC officials have been in contract negotiations with Dr. Metcalf since announcing the decision just over a week ago.  She tells KBND News she’s honored to be the school’s first female president. "Community college students tend to- the majority of them are women. So, I feel that this is really great for our college and our community that I can serve as a roll model for our students."

 

Dr. Metcalf has been with COCC for four years, and says she originally had no plans to take the permanent Presidential job. "I think we can now have more stability.  For the last six months, I’ve been the interim, and prior to that, we knew Dr. Middleton would be retiring. So, I think that we can now set some of our goals and make sure that we set benchmarks and that we work to reach them."

 

Director of College Relations Ron Paradis says the Board of Directors is ready to move forward, following more than a year of searching and two failed attempts to hire a President.  "The board took a look and said, ‘OK, so how’s it been going with Dr. Metcalf as the interim?’ and called in the different employee groups and got a unanimous vote of confidence for her work. As they said, it was like having a six-month site visit with her as the president.  The employee groups were very supportive and said ‘this is what we need to do, we’re ready to move forward and Dr. Metcalf is the right person to lead us for the next several years.’"
 
For our full conversation with Dr. Shirley Metcalf and Ron Paradis, listen to our Your Town Podcast.

 

On Air Now

Dan Bongino
Dan Bongino
9:00am - 12:00pm
The Dan Bongino Show

FlashAlert

KBND ON FACEBOOK

News Disclaimers