COOS BAY — From the fifth floor of the Tioga Hall, Southwestern Oregon Community College’s president can scan a good portion of the Coos Bay campus, from the Hales Center, to Stensland and Dellwood halls, to the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. Evergreens shrouding the college from the hubbub of Newmark Avenue make looking beyond these classrooms next to impossible.

When the Board of Education gave Judith Hansen the keys to the office, she was told to look past the trees and listen to those outside the campus. She made it a priority, visiting with community groups, business owners and school officials to learn what the community wanted of its college.

Out of these discussions came new career-focused courses, transition programs for high school students and more progress in Curry County.

As these projects developed, changes were afoot on campus, too. Retirements and resignations depleted the administrative ranks, leading to the search for new ones. In the meantime, remaining administrators and some faculty members picked up additional assignments.

Now, at the end of Hansen’s third year, the college clearly is moving in a new direction. Yet while she has made an effort to reach out to those in the community, she admits she has not done as well with her employees.

This has led to calls for an OSBA investigation, rancorous budget meetings and, most recently, three employee groups voting no-confidence in her leadership.

Hansen is optimistic these issues can be resolved, though she concedes there was more she could have done.

“It’s about touching base with the internal stakeholders with the same care we spent touching base with external stakeholders,” she said. “That would have facilitated a better understanding of the new initiatives.”

Motivation

Hansen’s enthusiasm for higher learning first emerged in the United States’ breadbasket. She was teaching high school social science and operating a farm when she got a call from Iowa Western Community College. They wanted to know if she would like to become a part-time instructor, teaching a GED class and tennis.

Two of her students made a particular impression on her. One was a teenager who hadn’t been allowed to complete high school with her class because she became pregnant. The other was a grandmother, who wanted to get her degree so she could be a model for her grandchildren.

It was the idea that a community college could serve such a wide range of students that appealed to her. Within a few years, she became a satellite campus director at Iowa Western. In 1997, she got her doctoral degree in higher education from Iowa State University and took the job as president of Independence Community College in Kansas. In July 2005, she arrived in Coos Bay.

Her decision to take the position at Southwestern was two-fold. She saw a lot of opportunities, but she also wanted to be closer to her adult children, who live in Seattle and Denver.

“They said, ‘Mother, you are in the wrong place.’ And I happened to agree with them,” she said.

Two-year itch

The new setting didn’t change her focus from making opportunities available to as many students as possible.

That is why she has pushed to get more career-related programs started at the college. Hansen understands the nature of the South Coast economy and she wants Southwestern to serve its needs. So the college has expanded its distance nursing program to Brookings and Florence. It will offer a paramedics associate degree in the fall in addition to a truck-driver training course. And there are plans in the works for new horticulture programs in coordination with Bandon Dunes and the Coquille Indian Tribe.

“Our goal is keeping well educated, local citizens on the South Coast so we can expand the quality of life and improve the community we serve,” she said.

Even some of her detractors concede Hansen has done well in building these programs with the help of the community. It is supervising her employees that has them worried.

“Judith Hansen is very good at social networking,” said David Bridgham, the longest-serving member of the board, who was involved in her hiring. “But it’s a complex job. There is an inside job and an outside job. She is really lacking in the inside part of it.”

Bernadette Kapocias, the faculty senate chairwoman, said faculty have felt left out of discussions regarding the budget and the hiring of new staff. When pressed for more information, Hansen seems to hold back, Kapocias said.

“A lot of people, I think they just don’t understand what is happening,” she said. “When the trust has been broken, it’s really, really hard to rebuild.”

Hansen said she can understand the faculty’s concerns.

“There is always more information to be known,” she said. “It is my goal that over time we will share that information needed to make good decisions.”

Bittersweet experience

Graduations are what drive Hansen. It is the time of year that validates her career.

“To see a student graduate that wouldn’t have been able to without that college’s help. To see them get a job and see them raise a family. It is the greatest job,” she said.

This year was a bit different. Southwestern held its commencement days after word came out of the faculty’s no-confidence vote. When Hansen came to the podium, there was none of the applause that greeted every other speaker. Normally a smooth public speaker, she stumbled through her prepared remarks. But when Hansen faced the class of 2008, her trademark sweep of white hair silhouetted a beaming smile.

That summed up how Hansen views her job.

“I enjoy the work we do here. Hearing how our students are afforded a quality learning experience and the opportunities at Southwestern Oregon Community College makes the small difficulties melt away.

“The last few years we have created a base for a vision of the future for our college,” she said. “Opportunities for students. Growth for professional staff. We’ve just laid down the foundation for some great years. I want to be a part of that.”

In her three years at Southwestern, Hansen has spread roots far and wide, though her support on campus does not run as deep. The question is if her base of support is strong enough to withstand the recent storm of criticism.