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It is with mixed emotions that I write to you this morning (in actuality yesterday afternoon). I am at once happy with the prospect of retirement, but I am also experiencing a profound sense of sadness with the prospect of leaving the Coast Community College District family.
It was almost 12 years ago when I joined the Coast District as vice chancellor of finance and administrative services. Many of you will recall that we were in the midst of maneuvering through the Great Recession, and I knew I had to hit the ground running. We did so successfully, but it was less about the work of any one individual and much more about a spirit of teamwork.
I am grateful to our Chancellor and Board of Trustees for having allowed me to build such a phenomenal administrative services division team of staff and managers. In a multi-college setting, however, the concept of teamwork extends beyond my immediate division. Over the years, I've worked very closely with numerous members of our college leadership teams. I am grateful to have gotten to know many of these educational leaders as colleagues and friends.
Through the rubric of teamwork, there are several initiatives that I am very proud to have helped lead. In 2012, Coast District voters approved a $698 million general obligation bond measure. During the course of the past decade, we have been able to utilize those resources, leveraged to secure significant state resources, to fundamentally transform the nature of our college campuses and enhance the student experience. Further, we strategically invested bond proceeds to create an ongoing revenue stream to maintain these facilities and honor the commitment that we made to voters, taxpayers, and our communities a decade ago.
More recently, we undertook efforts to develop student housing at Orange Coast College. Having undertaken what I believed to be a most thorough planning process, the one variable we never considered was the impact of a global health pandemic. I can recall being more than a little panic stricken in that first year of occupancy. Today, however, occupancy is hovering in the high 90 percent range and I think every member of the Coast family can consider that project a success.
In closing, allow me to thank each of you for the privilege of having served the Coast District as your vice chancellor. I am pleased to be among the first to welcome my successor, Marlene Drinkwine, who joins the Coast District today. I know great things are on the horizon for Vice Chancellor Drinkwine and the districtwide team that makes success possible.
Happy Fourth of July Weekend!
Andy
Andy Dunn, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor
Finance and Administrative Services
Note: The Chancellor's News Brief will be on hiatus next week. Weekly content will return on July 14.
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