At a time when community colleges are more important than ever in providing access to higher education, Dr. Bob Simpson of Cypress College feels great satisfaction in facilitating the process and strengthening the available content.
“Community colleges are the people’s colleges,” says Simpson, who is retired earlier this month as president of Cypress, a community college in Southern California, which boasts a current enrollment of approximately 15,728.
“California community colleges have held the line with no increases in tuition over the last five years,” he says. “At the same time, students who complete their first two years at the community college are even more successful than those who begin their studies at the four-year schools. We remain the best academic bargain in town.”
As a proud product of California’s public education system, Simpson has been involved with community college education for 30 years. Since arriving at Cypress in 2007 — where he spent five years as executive vice president before becoming president — he has focused on issues of access, equity, student support and community outreach.
“I approached my role as president first and foremost as an advocate for students,” he says. “We are fortunate to have incredibly strong academic and career/technical education options, and by utilizing community expertise related to our programs, we are able to take into account and address the rapidly changing needs of a dynamic economic environment. Having the opportunity to facilitate this process has been one of the most gratifying aspects of my presidency.”
Even though he was slammed with a budget crisis during the first year and a half of his presidency, Simpson completes his time as president having developed innovative initiatives at Cypress, including a veterans’ resource center and a new building for science, engineering and mathematics, both of which are currently in the design phase.
“The greatest challenges I continue to face are in bringing about needed change to systems, processes and procedures, which hinder the ability of our students to succeed,” says Simpson. “It has been said that one cannot continue doing the same thing and expect different results, yet in higher education we are so resistant to considerations of profoundly needed change. Too often, we respond to the need for change with ad hoc arguments that serve only to sustain an unacceptable status quo.”
