CCBT: The California Collegiate Brain Trust

CCBT Consultants D-J

Skip Davies

Prior to retiring from the Community College System in 2005, SKIP DAVIES served twenty-one years in the Los Rios Community College District, and then served a year as an Interim Vice Chancellor in the System Office under Mark Drummond.

At Cosumnes River College Skip served in several Dean’s positions Later in his career with Los Rios he was appointed as Provost and then President of the Folsom Lake College Centers. In 2002 Skip became the District Vice Chancellor of Instruction, Student Services, Human Resources and Technology, later being elevated to the District’s Deputy Chancellor.

During his years with Los Rios Skip gained valuable experience in all aspects of administration, including operational efficiency, facilities planning, outreach centers development, and negotiated contracts with five employee organizations. In 2004 Skip served with Tom Fryer to provide a Review of the Community College System Office to the Board of Governors.

Prior to joining the Los Rios District Skip served in the K-12 system for eighteen years as a teacher, coach and secondary school principal. He received his Bachelors Degree from UCD, Masters from CSUS Sacramento and his Ed.D. at Utah State University.

Most recently Skip Davies was elected to the City Council of Woodland and will serve as Mayor for two years beginning in June 2008.

Thomas J. Donner

Acknowledged by national and California community college organizations as an outstanding chief business officer, THOMAS J. DONNER served as the CBO of Santa Monica Community College District for thirty years and as interim Superintendent and President twice during that time.

Tom’s accomplishments include leading the reconstruction of Santa Monica College following the devastating Northridge Earthquake. Working with FEMA and OES in the $75 million multi-year construction effort, Tom’s knowledge of construction and finance assisted the District in maximizing the facilities that could be replaced or upgraded by using federal dollars and local bond funding. Tom also served as the lead financial officer for the District in three successful bond elections and the issuing of numerous certificates of participation.

An active member of the California Bar, Tom holds a Juris Doctorate from Southwest University and a MBA in Finance and Accounting from CSULB.

Richard J. Giese

With more than 35 years of experience in higher education, RICHARD GIESE has established himself as an effective leader and a dedicated administrator with a strong commitment to the community.

Richard Giese served as Superintendent/President of Mt. San Jacinto Community College District for seven years before retiring and becoming the Executive Director of the Western Center Museum. Prior to that he spent eight years as President at Reedley College, two years as Vice President at West Hills College and six years at Fresno State University in charge of school relations and community college articulation.

Dr. Giese’s affiliations include serving on the Board of Directors of the Hemet/San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce, Riverside’s Monday Morning Group, the Murrieta-Temecula Group and the Hemet/ San Jacinto Action Group. Giese served on the Western Center Community Foundation Board from 1999 until he resigned to become Executive Director.

Giese’s own education began at San Diego Mesa Community College where he earned his Associate’s degree. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s from the University of San Diego, where he later worked in school relations. In 1996 he received his Doctorate degree in Education from the University of La Verne.

Cy Gulassa

CY GULASSA, retired after 30 years of teaching English at Foothill-DeAnza Community College, has a long history as a community college leader with strong interest in governance and faculty-management-trustee relationships.

He was President of the Foothill-De Anza Faculty Union for 20 years, founder and President of the Bay Ten Faculty Association and President of FACC.

In Sacramento he worked on community college legislation and was chair of the AB1875 Task Force, which mandated participatory governance (shared governance), and reformed personnel matters like faculty and administrator qualifications, hiring, evaluation and retention. He currently is a member of the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees and serves as a consultant on management-staff relations. He has published and lectured widely on governance and related issues.

Dr. Tom Harris

TOM HARRIS is Chancellor Emeritus of North Orange County Community College District, where he retired in 1999. In the eighties,Tom was president of Merced Community College District.He started his career working with mentally challenged junior high school students in San Jose and then moved to Long Beach City College.

After Tom’s retirement, he provided consulting services serving as interim community college presidents at Oxnard College, San Bernardino Valley College, Shasta College, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, West Hills College, and now at Redwoods.

Areas of professional interest are:

leadership
board relations
staff relations
mediation
accreditation workout

Tom is a community college graduate from Compton College. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at San Jose State College. He then received his Master of Science in Education and his Ed.D. in Higher Education at the University of Southern California

Julie Swan Hatoff

JULIE HATOFF became Vice President, Instructional Services at MiraCosta College, Oceanside, California in 1984 and went on to become the longest-serving chief instructional officer from a single college. Julie taught English and Humanities and headed the CCCCIO’s plus the National Association of Instructional Administrators. The state organization honored her as the first recipient of its leadership award.

In addition to capturing the college’s first award as Teacher of the Year and serving as Academic Senate President, she co-founded the English Council of California Two-Year Colleges (ECCTYC) and sat on the executive boards of the statewide Academic Senate and Faculty Association of California Community Colleges. Over the course of a quarter century, she chaired many an accreditation team.

Julie completed her graduate work at San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate School.

Michael Hill

MICHAEL HILL has 37 Years of Experience in the California Community College System. with 25 Years Experience as CBO and interim CBO in a multi-college district.

Michael’s areas of responsibility included administrative services; payroll, purchasing, budgets, accounting, contracts, insurances, cafeterias, bookstores, reprographics, police, information technology and foundation.

Other achievements include:

Selected as outstanding CBO in 2001 by the state association for career achievement.
Led a team of CBOs in developing recommendations that in turn became the foundation for SB 361
Served on the State Chancellor’s Office Fiscal Standards Committee.
Provided specialized consulting services to various community college districts

John Hurd

JOHN HURD is a widely recognized community college leader, having served as a chief financial officer, chief academic officer, chief student services officer, and for the last 18 years as a community college president.

John has been particularly successful in mentoring emerging community college leaders, implementing effective and collegial shared governance processes, and developing positive working relationships among individuals and college constituencies.

He has creatively steered colleges through major budget challenges, and has established numerous outreach programs, educational centers, and community partnerships.

John is recognized as a national leader in private fund raising and has led two successful bond campaigns. He has served in a number of state leadership roles, chaired many accreditation teams, and received numerous state and national awards.

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