The President of Skyline College Victoria Morrow, has announced that she plans to retire at the end of the fall 2010 semester.

The announcement came via e-mail that was sent out to faculty and staff on May 5.

“The right time came for me,” Morrow said.

Morrow expressed that she has been considering retirement for awhile, but she wanted to wait until the time was right. She wanted to focus on allowing the administration a sufficient amount of time to initiate the replacement process in order to have a smooth transition for her incoming replacement.

“I wanted to leave at a time when the college was on an even keel, and I could walk away feeling like [Skyline College] was in good shape,” Morrow said.

Morrow also shared that the six years she has spent as president at Skyline College has been the most rewarding aspect of her career.

“This is a fabulous college,” Morrow said. “It has a sincere, students-first way of thinking about things.”

She says that the entire college and all of its services, faculty, and staff are all working together to make their main priority the students.

“I’m very excited for her,” said Linda Bertellotti, administrative assistant to the president. “She has done a lot for Skyline, and I think she’s ready for a new phase of her life.”

Bertellotti said she thought Morrow picked a great time to retire, and that she is leaving the college in great shape. Bertellotti said that Morrow has been an open communicator, and has shown great transparency. She also mentioned that people all across the college campus know where Morrow stood on issues, and that she has always been a strong supporter of Skyline.

Morrow said that she will have no input as to who the next president of Skyline College will be, and she thinks it should be that way. The choice will be in the hands of the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Harry Joel.

Bertellotti said that she thinks that Morrow’s replacement will be good for the college, and that she expects they will select a very strong leader.

“I don’t think there is any reason to expect that we won’t continue to be a very strong college, with strong connections to students and the community,” Bertellotti said.

The announcement allows the San Mateo Community College District six months to go through the process of posting a job announcement, selecting and reviewing applicants, and picking a replacement president for Skyline College.

According to Joel, the selection process will provide an unbiased and equal opportunity recruitment. The selection ordeal will include input from administration officials, teachers, students, and faculty. Emphasis will be placed on the responsibility of the chancellor and Board of Trustees to ensure the quality of the new president. The selection and screening process for applicants will be largely confidential.