LYNNWOOD — Edmonds Community College President Jack Oharah, who has had a knack for persuading others to support his ideas, will retire in December after 14 years at the college.
Oharah, 66, made the announcement to college faculty and staff on Wednesday.
“I am disappointed that he is leaving,” said Jeannette Wood, president of the EdCC Board of Trustees. “Things have been going so well. He goes forward and he brings everybody with him. The college is in better shape than it has ever been.”
Charlie Earl, executive director of the state Board of Technical and Community Colleges, often worked with Oharah when Earl was president at Everett Community College for seven years.
“He has done a good job there,” Earl said. “He has had a long run and he has gotten a lot done.”
EdCC’s average annual enrollment of full- and part-time students taking college credit and noncredit courses increased to about 20,000 from 11,000 during Oharah’s tenure.
Much of the campus was either rebuilt or built anew during that time.
Oharah said he was particularly pleased with the addition of Snoqualmie Hall, which includes EdCC and Central Washington University classes. The building, which opened in 2002, gave greater visibility to Central and the chance to earn a bachelor’s degree without leaving the community college campus.
“We had to get statewide support for that, including getting our legislative group behind it,” Oharah said. “It was a huge accomplishment for the community and it’s a huge asset not only for the south county but for the region.”
In 1996, Oharah came to Edmonds Community College from Kansas, where he was vice president of instruction at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan. After he retires next December, he plans to return to Kansas and his dream home on a farm there. It will be a family reunion of sorts, with most of his children and grandchildren living nearby.
“I think it’s time to move on to the next phase of my life,” Oharah said. “I expect to do some volunteering, a little consulting and a lot of sitting on the bench watching grandkids play (sports). That will fill up your day.”
Wood said the board of trustees will begin a search for a new college president in April.
It could be a competitive market. There are or are expected to be eight vacancies at community colleges across the state, largely from retirements and administrators taking jobs in other states, Earl said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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