Yosemite College board, chancellor share blame for MJC chaos, must fix turnover | Opinion

It is appropriate to question whether the tumult bedeviling the president’s office at Modesto Junior College belongs at the feet of those who hire for the position rather than those occupying it.

Presidents are hired by the Yosemite Community College District chancellor, whose decision is ratified by the seven-member YCCD Board of Trustees. In this case, it’s more important to note that the board and chancellor also fire presidents, or bring high-powered pressure to resign.

The board and chancellor also can use their extraordinary power to force out key, high-ranking people working just under the president, without the president’s say. Normally a rare occurrence, such separations have become more common under YCCD Chancellor Henry Yong and trustees, who will meet at 3 p.m. Jan. 11.

In the past two years, they have said goodbye with no meaningful explanation to four people in top management: MJC presidents Jim Houpis in 2021 and Santanu Bandyopadhyay in December; Jennifer Zellet, vice president of instruction; and Ashley Griffith, dean of student services.

If they were terrible leaders, one would think the four might have a hard time finding employment in the closed circle of community colleges. Yet Houpis now is interim chancellor of Yuba Community College District and Zellet is superintendent-president of Antelope Valley College — both promotions above positions they held here.

It didn’t used to be like this for our beloved MJC, which celebrated its centennial in 2021.

Former YCCD Chancellor Tom Van Groningen said in an interview Monday, “MJC was always perceived to be out front” in the community of junior colleges. For two decades after leaving YCCD in 1992, he ran a consulting business specializing in helping districts throughout California select chancellors and presidents.

In a recent interview with Modesto Bee reporter Adam Echelman, Houpis acknowledged that “being the president of MJC was my dream job. It was a great college, it’s a great community and I wish I didn’t have to resign. But given the politics of the board, I couldn’t see myself continuing.”

This editorial board has noted that MJC stands alone in the cellar of California’s 115 community colleges for executive retention, having lost 16 presidents since 2000; the statewide average during that time is 4.2.

Righting the ship

“This is of grave concern to me,” Van Groningen said. In the 18 years he was YCCD chancellor (two as assistant), MJC had three presidents, and Columbia College, the other YCCD campus, had two.

Two others who also gave heart and soul to MJC — Paul Neumann, former dean, Foundation board member and trustee, and Steve Collins, a former MJC interim president and Foundation board member — were moved to put pen to paper for this editorial page. Neumann wrote a column suggesting ways to improve the selection process, and Collins, a letter to the editor noting the unexpected departures of Houpis, Bandyopadhyay, Zellet and Griffith without naming them. Both will appear Sunday in this opinion section.

“I know how much this community values MJC,” Neumann said in an email. Clearly, all three are suffering because of MJC’s fall from grace.

Van Groningen and Neumann independently concluded that a key to finding the right fit is in the selection committee composed of representatives from various stakeholders on campus, including students and faculty. The chancellor and trustees must take the committee’s recommendations seriously, Van Groningen says, while Neumann suggests forming a standing committee whose expertise can carry forward in future executive searches.

Yong has told this editorial board that high turnover doesn’t affect students’ academic experiences. That’s debatable, but the revolving presidential door surely affects the broader community.

MJC is one of Modesto’s most important jewels. Area employers should be able to count on the college to train workers for local jobs, a role that will become more critical as Stanislaus County transitions to a hub of bioindustry. We cannot continue abiding the politics of the board at the expense of the community’s well-being and future.