A big change is coming to the college in summer 2014.

On April 15 James Middleton, the president of Central Oregon Community College, announced that he will be retiring in June 2014. Middleton’s retirement has been announced 14 months in advance in order to allow for a thorough search by the board of directors for a new president, according to the press release sent out by Ron Paradis, the director of college relations at COCC.

Middleton is the fourth president COCC has had in its 63 years of operation, according to the press release. He has been a community college administrator for over 30 years,and also spent ten years teaching in high schools and community colleges. Before he came to COCC, Middleton was the president of the College of Marin in California.

The college board of directors will be starting the search for the next COCC president in fall 2013, according to Bruce Abernethy, a board member and next year’s board chair.

“We appreciate Dr. Middleton’s many years of service to community colleges and particularly COCC,” said Abernethy. “We are in a position of strength and well positioned for the future … this spring we will appoint a search committee and begin communicating with constituents on and off campus. We can then get an early start in the fall in order to maximize our applicant pool and position ourselves for success.”

–Cedar Goslin

The Broadside

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