Community members are invited to participate in one of two open forums that will help inform the search for Peninsula College’s next president, school representatives said last week.
The college will host two hour-long, virtual open forums, one from 10:30- 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2, and another from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3; no RSVP is needed. Join the Zoom discussions by going to tinyurl.com/PCzoomforums (meeting ID 869 2642 9152, passcode: 244513).
The purpose of the sessions is to listen to community input, which will assist with the development of the Presidential Profile.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about the presidential search process
Those interested in contributing to the search but are unable to attend the forums can fill out an electronic survey, with anonymous responses to be used to inform the development of a draft “Presidential Profile.” The survey is available at surveymonkey.com/r/peninsula-college- presidential-search.
Survey feedback must be submitted no later than 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 4.
“The entire Peninsula College community is invited and encouraged to participate in a discussion about the qualities, characteristics, and qualifications that PC is seeking in its president, and the opportunities and challenges facing Peninsula College in the years to come,” college representatives said last week.
For more about the presidential search, visit pencol.edu/about-pc/presidential-search.
Robins to retire
Current PC president Luke Robins, who has led Peninsula College since July 2012, has announced he will retire at the end of 2021-22, which promises to be a busy year for the college.
Robins, who will be 65 in January, told the board of trustees that he would retire from his position as president of the college last week so as to give them plenty of time to seek his replacement, he said in June.
Robins described the past academic year as “a tremendous challenge” to which faculty and staff responded with “resilience, creativity and dedication to students,” he said earlier this year.
“Our faculty and staff are truly amazing people to be able to make the switch from face-to-face with some remote to entirely remote in two weeks” March of 2020, Robins said.
Robins, who lives in Sequim with his wife Mary Jane, said retirement will allow him to spend more time with his family — the couple has two grown children — travel and perhaps find new professional opportunities.
He has no plans for other work, he said, but remains interested in finding ways to contribute after a 40-year career in community colleges.
During Robins’ tenure, Peninsula College expanded its branches.
The college acquired and renovated the former Bank of America building in Forks to house the college’s West End campus.
Working with the Peninsula College Foundation, the State Parks Department and the Fort Worden Public Development Authority, the college transformed a historic barracks building at Fort Worden in Port Townsend into a Jefferson County Peninsula College campus.
In 2017, construction was completed on a new Allied Health and Early Childhood Education building on the Port Angeles campus.
The college also won a $2.2 million federal Title III grant going toward a center to provide faculty resources, improvements to the Longhouse — the first Native American Longhouse to be located on a community college campus — and wayfinding signs on campus.
During his tenure, the college developed a new strategic plan and facilities master plan and recently completed a successful mid-cycle — one cycle is seven years — with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Robins has served on the Clallam County Economic Development Council, the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the North Olympic Healthcare Network boards. He serves on the American Association of Community Colleges’ Commission on Small/Rural Community Colleges.
Prior to his appointment as president of Peninsula College, Robins served as chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, La. The new college had its initial regional accreditation and $45 million college campus constructed.
He also served as chief academic officer at two-year colleges in Idaho and Arkansas, and has nearly 20 years of experience as a community college instructor.
A native of Illinois, Robins holds a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, a master’s degree in English from Illinois State University, and a doctorate in community college leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.
