2008 Woodie Awards
Dr. Victoria Morrow 'a good fit' as Skyline's new President
Dr. Morrow is ready to take challenges head on
Neill Herbert
Date created: 1/31/05 Section: NEWS
 Victoria Morrow |
No doubt about it, Victoria Morrow loves her new job.
"It's fun," said Skyline's new college president. A bright smile and cheerful tone illuminated her countenance as she spoke of settling into her position. "I'm really enjoying being here. It's a great school-lots of enthusiastic staff and faculty. It's just a kick. I love it here."
Last March, when former President Frances White announced she was taking the position of president at College of Marin, the San Mateo County Community College District quickly searched to find her replacement. With College of San Mateo President Shirley Kelly filling in as Skyline's president for most of the fall 2004 semester, the applicant field was narrowed down, and Morrow was chosen on Oct. 18. She officially took office Dec. 1 and is looking forward to getting more and more familiar with her new duties.
Taking a quick look at Morrow's educational career, it is not hard to understand why she is considered to be, as SMCCCD board of trustees President Karen Schwarz recently said, "a good fit" for the job of college president.
"I'm an educator by profession; that's what I set out to do," Morrow said. "I had brilliant, wonderful teachers. I watched what they did, and I thought, 'There couldn't be a better way to make a living than to do the kind of work that those people do.'...From when I was a kid, I knew I was going to be a teacher."
Originally planning to teach Spanish, Morrow ended up being hired by Chabot College in Hayward in 1974 as a part-time Sociology instructor. She spent over two decades at Chabot filling various academic and administrative positions, such as full-time instructor, division head and academic services executive. Then, in 1998, she left for Sacramento and served as the executive vice chancellor in the state chancellor's office. The time she spent in the California's capital gave her valuable experience and understanding of community college issues from the state's perspective.
"It's interesting being in Sacramento," she said. "That's a wild and woolly place."
After more than six years working for the state, she jumped at the chance to get back into a position at a college where she could better exercise her strengths as an educator. She is finding the president's office at Skyline to be a satisfying place to do just that.
"It's a college that has a healthy culture. It has a tradition of good, open dialogue among all the constituent groups within the college-the students, the classified staff, the faculty, the administration-and when you've got that, you can pretty much deal with whatever comes along."
