Linn-Benton board will begin searching for successor next month

By Alex Paul

Gazette-Times reporter

ALBANY - Rita Cavin, Linn-Benton Community College president since September 2003, informed the college board of education Wednesday evening that she plans to retire Dec. 31. The LBCC Board will begin the search process for Cavin's successor in May.

"I will miss LBCC very much, but it is time for me to move to a new chapter in my life," Cavin said. "I consider my work at LBCC to be the highlight of my 44-year career in education."

Cavin is the first woman to head LBCC, which was established in 1966. The college serves more than 2,500 full-time and 3,200 part-time students at the main campus in Albany and its centers in Corvallis, Lebanon and Sweet Home. In all, LBCC serves more than 24,000 students and has a full-time and part-time workforce of about 1,000.

Cavin came to the the mid-valley from Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., where she was vice president of instruction for six years. She succeeded longtime LBCC president Jon Carnahan, who retired.

Cavin well understands the needs of community college students, who often are working parents. She was a working parent, too, when she earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Claremont Graduate University, a master's degree in Library Science from Immaculate Heart College and master's and bachelor's degrees in English from the University of Redlands.

Like today's students, Cavin said she often was so physically and mentally exhausted that she wondered if she would ever succeed.

"President Cavin has been the stimulus of LBCC's development over the last six years," said Ron Mason, LBCC board chair. "She will leave a strategic plan in place that will continue to guide the college during the period of transition to a new president."

Community college funding has been cut significantly by the Oregon Legislature in recent years and Cavin has helped the school form or strengthen its partnerships with local health care providers, business and industry. The college's nursing program works in partnership with Samaritan Health Services, whose president and chief executive officer, Larry Mullins, gives every nursing graduate a stethoscope at commencement.

Several new programs have been developed to meet local work force needs such as Diagnostic Imaging, Polysomnography, Phlebotomy, Veterinary Technology and Pharmacy Technician.

Cavin said she is proud of the new Mechatronics Technology program that grew out of a partnership with the local food processing industry. College and industry leaders worked together to develop the curriculum to train workers skilled in mechanical, electrical and manufacturing systems maintenance.

Cavin also led the $4 million fundraising campaign for the new science building currently under construction on the Albany campus. She was one of several Albany community leaders to meet with legislators in Washington, D.C., to secure federal appropriations for Albany projects. That effort led to a $500,000 appropriation to purchase equipment for the new science building.

"LBCC, the LBCC Foundation and the community are better because of Rita Cavin and her vision," said Richard Hein, LBCC Foundation president and president/CEO of OSU Federal Credit Union. "She has reached out and collaborated with the business community to help build programs that benefit a stronger community, a better-prepared work force and a funding source that will help students achieve their dreams."

Cavin lives in Corvallis with her husband, Brooks, who is a retired architect. She has been active in the community, serving on the United Way of Linn County board of directors, the Oregon State University College of Education Advisory Board and the Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Coalition.

She also serves on the board of directors of the American Association of Community Colleges, the executive board of the Oregon Community College Association, the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center board and the Leadership Corvallis board.

and the Linn County Juvenile Drug Court advisory committee.

She is a member of the Albany Rotary club and is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.