Interim President Honored as One of Hawaii's 50 Finest
News archive - 2014-15
Dr. Shirley Metcalf, interim president at Central Oregon Community College, has been
named to a list of "50 Finest" as part of the celebration of the University of Hawaii
Community College System's 50th anniversary celebration.
Metcalf is being honored primarily for her work as the director of the Office of Continuing Education and Training for the Hawaii Community Colleges. She worked for the Hawaii Community College system as a faculty member and administrator for nearly 30 years.
This special 50th Anniversary commemorative award recognizes the outstanding contributions and service of people who impacted the quality and success of the community colleges in Hawaii. These individuals, programs and services were selected by their peers to receive the University of Hawaii Community Colleges "50 Finest" award given to those who have significantly contributed to the growth and innovation of the community colleges over the years. They were formally recognized at a 50thAnniversary Gala Celebration held in November.
Metcalf began her career as faculty member in the Business Education and Affiliated Programs department and kept her faculty rank throughout her time in Hawaii. She also served in a variety of administrative capacities, including dean of instruction, dean of outreach and director of continuing education and training. As director of continuing education, she increased programming which resulted in student enrollment growth from 200 students to nearly 6,000. This included work on creation and development of new non-credit workforce training programs in areas such as the cruise industry, forestry, healthcare, hospitality, computer training for various industries and other contract training for government, business, labor and nonprofit organizations. Metcalf is also credited with the establishment of the initial Hawaii Interactive Television System, and several non-credit international education and cultural programs.
"My career at Hawaii Community Colleges reflects my commitment to the community college mission and my passion for serving students," Metcalf said. "These experiences prepared me to continue to serve in administrative careers at community college in both Washington and Oregon."
Since leaving Hawaii in 2002, Metcalf served as (lower case for these titles, unless we revise the ones above:)Executive Vice President for Instructional Services and then Vice President for College Advancement and Extended Learning at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, Washington; and then as Extended Learning Dean at Central Oregon Community College, beginning in 2011. In 2012, she served for five months as the Interim Vice President for Instruction at COCC, and in September, began a 10-month assignment as Interim President at COCC.