Since fall of 2013 when ground was initially broken on the Campus Center Project, the outward appearance of Contra Costa College has been in constant flux.
In recent years, students withstood the dust and debris, lack of parking and general upheaval of any sense of continuity that was gained throughout the normal course of a semester.
Regularly, that familiarity had to be redirected to a different path as soon as the following semester began — making a once comfortable campus feel like a foreign land.
As the structural nature of CCC continues to undergo a substantial facelift, an incremental nip and tuck job has continued to reshape the administrative image of the campus as well.
The ideal plan, to reconfigure the administrative face of CCC to better reflect that of the community it serves continues to be a project mired in trial and error.
It’s becoming commonplace that this constant re-shaping only lasts long enough for the bandages to be ripped off.
However, before the scars of change can get a chance to fully heal, the campus is forced to return under the knife to remove some unexpected or unintended bureaucratic blemishes.
The cyclical condition doesn’t produce minimal shifts. The changes are enough to make the most surgically-seasoned Kardashian blush.
CCC has been fronted by four campus presidents in the past four years, Dr. Denise Noldon left the position in 2015.
She was followed by Mojdeh Mehdizadeh and interim Dr. Chui Tsang.
Then on Aug. 6 Dr. Katrina VanderWoude came on board as the 12th president of CCC.
All of these professionals are qualified in their own respects, however, the vast differences in their style and approaches leave many to wonder if the district really knows what type of leader is best suited to serve the students of CCC.
Presidents are not the only participants in this state-funded, high-stakes game of musical chairs. Campus deans have been in high rotation over the past few years as well.
Last semester, the lateral appointment of Dennis Franco to dean of students from dean of enrollment left many on campus wondering what would happen next.
What kind of example does that set?
From the unceremonious exit of Vice President Ken Sherwood and the hiring of Andre Singleton as dean of enrollment services over the summer break, clandestine administrative actions continue to be the Contra Costa Community College District’s modus operandi.
The campus needs management who understand the challenges of educating students in this particular community and social atmosphere.
Measurable growth and meaningful change is rarely gained by institutions that selects its administrators Lazy Susan style or with all the certainty of predicting the landing spot of a ball in a game of roulette.