Metcalf takes the reins as COCC president

After a long and costly search, Central Oregon Community College has hired a new president, and her name is Dr. Shirley Metcalf.

“I’m very excited,” Metcalf said Wednesday.

After a nationwide search, costing more than $100,000, their ideal leader was right under their noses the whole time.

“We asked: ‘Is Dr. Metcalf the right person to be the president, not on an interim-basis but on a more long-term basis?’ said Ron Paradis, director of college relations at COCC. “It was fairly unanimous that everybody said, ‘Yes, she’s doing a great job, and that’s what we need right now.'”

It all started when COCC’s previous president, James Middleton, announced his retirement in 2013. The search for his replacement was on. In 2014, the board picked Patrick Lanning as the finalist.

Then the board learned that Lanning had been accused of raping a colleague, so it was back to the drawing board. When their top pick from this round backed out last month, following a death in the family, they looked within their own ranks, and at Metcalf, the interim president.

“Everybody is extremely excited to have Dr Metcalf as our president for the upcoming years,” Paradis said.

Which raises the question, why not pick her in the first place and save money and time? (The cost of the two searches topped $114,000, close to the budgeted $100,000.)

“It was a great process. Yes, I mean if we had to do it all over again, would we spend that much money? That’s a much tougher question,” Paradis said.

Now Metcalf, with a 3-year contract and a base salary of $180,000, is looking forward to bringing stability to COCC. One of her major goals is to ensure success for all students, including minorities.

“About 50 percent of them are women,” said Metcalf. “So I would like to make sure that we continue to have the programs to serve these students. I also want to continue to build our partnership with OSU-Cascades.”

Metcalf brings a different perspective to the table than her predecessors as the first female and minority president at COCC. Originally from Hawaii, Metcalf has experience in almost all aspects of college leadership in Hawaii, Washington and Oregon.