Dr. Patricia Stanley vows to focus on building trust

Dr. Patricia Stanley is the interim President of Laney College. She is taking over for Dr. Elnora Webb, who left to take a position with the Peralta College District. Stanley brings a wealth of experience to the position. On March 8 she held several meet- and –greet meetings to introduce herself to students, faculty, staff and administrators. She started out by briefly talking about her background.
 She was the president of Fredrick College in Maryland and was the interim president at Merritt College in 2012. She has also held administrative positions with numerous other colleges. 
She is aware that community colleges are “expected to do everything for everybody and at a very low cost.” Sometimes those two things are not compatible, but she wants to get the college moving forward. She believes now is a great time to think about which direction the college should be going. The qualities of the new president will reflect on the direction you want the college to take. 
As an interim president, she knows she won’t be here long enough to fix everything, but she does not want to just keep the status quo. Her contract only lasts until Dec. 31, but she says, “That is enough time to make building trust, hiring a new Interim Vice President for Dean of Student Services, and streamlining processes. 
Building trust will take time and interaction with people. Stanley emphasized that if she is asked to look into something, she will do it. She will follow through and report what she finds. She describes her leadership style as inclusive, open and direct. 
“Compromise is not a dirty word,” she said. She believes in delegation and holding people responsible. When asked by ASLC President John Mychael Cox about shared governance, Stanley replied, “Shared governance is the right thing to do. People who are affected by a decision should have a voice on decisions.” 
She hopes that people will let her know about problems before they get too large. 
Hiring an Interim Dean of Student Services is another one of her top priorities. She says she wants to hire someone who can hit the ground running and get things in place “so we’re not spinning our wheels.” Her priority is to find the best candidate for the job. At the time of the meeting, she had not officially started working yet, but she had already set up interviews with candidates who were available.
Stanley expressed her belief that streamlining burdensome processes is important, even if it means “fighting the district on that.” 
Said Dr. Stanley, “Every desk something sits on can mean another day.” She has had experience dealing with drawn out processes in her own life. She pointed out, “I get frustrated with processes that take too long. I get stressed out.” 
Part of the streamlining process will include trying to eliminate duplication. When asked about cooperation, she mentioned, “A student doesn’t come to an office only. They come to the college.” 
By working together on shared priorities she is hoping to be able to affect changes. 
ASLC Alternate Senator Warrenalisha Alston asked questions about disabled student services. Although Stanley replied that some programs were state funded, she said, “(we) need to do some things to make that department more of a priority. 
Laney student Carrol Williams followed up asking about the high turnover rate at DSPS that “allows people to fall through the cracks.” 
Stanley agreed that having strong and steady leadership is what makes a department work. She went on to say that the problem deserved attention, and that her own daughter was disabled.