Central Oregon Community College is gaining a new president this year, as President Laurie Chesley has announced her retirement for the end of June. The college’s board of directors has narrowed the search down to three finalists, who made campus visits to Central Oregon throughout January and February.

The board intends to make its final decision later in February. The new president will begin their tenure in July.

Angela Tos

Angela Tos, vice president of student services at Coalinga College in California, began her own college career at a community college, and wants the best experience for students in the same situation.

“My life was changed by the community college system,” she said. “The reason I’ve spent over half my career, frankly, three-quarters of my career in the community college system is because I recognize that it provides access and opportunities for all students, and it has the potential to transform the lives of students. In fact, we are not doing our jobs if we’re not doing that.”

Tos visited COCC in November and said she was impressed by the students she spoke with. She visited other COCC campuses as well to see their similarities and differences to the Bend campus.

“I want to make sure that I’m the right fit for you…it needed to be the right fit for me as well,” she said. “The students and the staff I talked to were so proud of this place, and really loved it.”

As vice president of student affairs, Tos handles support services, a food pantry, a hygiene pantry, therapy and more for the small, rural Coalinga College, located in Central California.

“I think the most important thing we do is meet students where they’re at,” she said. “Education improves outcomes.”

Tos’ early goals would be to get to know everyone on all four campuses and the Central Oregon community and learn their needs.

“That requires asking a lot of questions, listening for understanding, celebrating the things that make us great, continuing that, building on it, and being honest and learning honestly what the challenges are,” she said.

She would continue to support COCC’s efforts, and said that the college’s continued success is vital.

“I am relentless in the pursuit of student success,” Tos said. “We’re only successful and the community is only successful if we both feel like we’re getting what we need and we’re doing the work to create positive outcomes for our community members.”

Tos said she loves reading and enjoys being outdoors. She grew up in northern California and loves to hike. When she visited in November, she ran in the Cascade Relay I Like Pie run.

She’s aware that there’s a lot of worry about immigration crackdowns, and said making sure students feel they belong is necessary.

“I think the most important responsibility of the president is to make sure that students feel safe and have a sense of belonging,” she said. “People need to feel valued, they need to feel seen and they need to feel like it’s okay to bring their whole self, their lived experience, their difficulties and their challenges and their strength and their resilience to the campus and know that they belong.”

Greg Pereira

Greg Pereira, the vice president for student affairs at Rio Salado College in Arizona, decided to start a career in education after working at a Los Angeles homeless shelter. He’s been at Rio Salado College for 13 years and said education is key to getting out of the cycle of poverty.

Pereira has overseen academic affairs, student affairs, community development and workforce in his time at the college. As vice president of student affairs, he focuses on registration, enrollment, financial aid and financial advising, all through graduation.

“The thing about (COCC), the excellence it has and the values, it just aligns really well with who I am and what I believe in,” Pereira said.

He’s also looking forward to bringing his young family to “an outdoor paradise.”

Pereira wants to make sure the college’s successes and range of programs are shown to the community, and that all students are welcomed.

“We’re uniquely situated in an area that has entrepreneurship, that’s growing, that has new technology coming in and so as we move forward let’s really think about what we can do to be the first, and sort of conquer some of those challenges that other community colleges have thought of but they haven’t quite got there yet, and then how do we share the model back out with everyone?” he said.

Pereira’s career started in branch campuses, and he feels it’s important that each of the COCC campuses — Bend, Redmond, Prineville and Madras — have a signature program that expands the workforce in each community.

“Each should be different, should feel different and should be a reflection of the community that they serve,” he said.

Regarding worries around immigration crackdowns, Pereira said students’ safety and sense of belonging is paramount.

Pereira said he would be looking forward to being part of the Central Oregon community in addition to serving as president.

“Let’s host community events (at the college),” he suggested. “Let’s get kids who are elementary age on campus to see what we do, to develop a college-going culture where it’s normal for students to be on a college campus.”

Pereira is a relationship builder and is excited to get to know the college’s community partners, he said.

“COCC has a huge footprint, we serve 10,000 square miles, we do tremendous work, we need to make sure that we have extensions into that entire service area, and that we’re providing the best possible services we can,” he said.

Pereira said he enjoys cooking, baking bread, fishing and hiking.

“To have that much natural beauty without being covered by rain every single day, it’s a very special place,” he said. “But more special has been the people.”

Steve Erickson

Steve Erickson, the vice president of institutional effectiveness and technology at Minnesota State Community and Technical College, has been with that college for nearly 11 years. He’s involved with planning, accreditation, information technology and engaging students.

He used to live in Portland and would be excited by the possibility of living in Central Oregon. Erickson said he used to rock climb at Smith Rock State Park. He also enjoys skiing, backpacking and hiking.

“I really like the Bend community, how well it supports the college and how the college engages the community as well,” he said.

Erickson said he’s been keeping an eye on any job openings in Central Oregon for several years. He loves two-year colleges in particular because they are such a hub of activity.

“I’m not somebody who would necessarily come in and make a lot of changes right away,” he said. “I need to understand the culture and the context of the things that are going on.”

He’s interested in analyzing the college’s process for graduates long-term and how COCC supports students who are looking to transfer to four-year schools. He’s also curious to understand the role the college plays in economic and workforce development.

“I’m a big fan of taking multiple approaches to solve problems, and not even solve problems, just helping communities and helping communities grow and for industries to be successful,” he said.

Erickson wants to talk to students about their experiences and see how they can be improved. He said his visit so far has been excellent and he’s enjoyed meeting students, staff and faculty.

“Every leader that comes in is going to be slightly different,” he said. “I just love how people are really focused on the students.”

Erickson said he feels at home in Central Oregon, and it’s easy to communicate with people here.

“With that feeling really comes a desire to be a part of the good that’s happening around here and really devoting time and resources to improving the lives of everybody in Central Oregon,” he said.

Erickson is looking forward to building solutions for the college and the broader community, and partnering with organizations as well as Oregon State University-Cascades.