PALMER -- State Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Bill Hogan says that if he's given the role of directing Mat-Su College, he'd like to expand the college's role in training health care workers and students who can help build a natural gas pipeline.
Hogan is one of four finalists for the Mat-Su College director position. He answered questions at a community forum Friday evening at the college cafe.
Hogan said he believes it's important that the college work closely with the Matanuska-Susitna School District to shape future college students and to ensure high school seniors are prepared to meet the demands of college.
"Studies show that by fourth grade, kids decide what they don't want to be," Hogan said. "We need to be thinking much younger, not only about how do we get kids into college, but how do we get them to become more responsible adults?"
Hogan has lived in Mat-Su for 12 years and said he's familiar with the college from being a guest speaker in college courses and has attended several community meetings on campus. Although he's worked in different roles at the state Department of Health and Social Services for the past seven years, he was for five years prior to that chief executive officer of Mat-Su Health Services, formerly LifeQuest, in Wasilla.
Hogan said his behavioral health skills give him a unique perspective on some of the challenges students face. From scheduling challenges working parents face when trying to take college courses to identifying students with alcohol or drug problems and helping them find treatment or helping new students navigate the frustration of having to take remedial courses to catch up with their peers, Hogan said it boils down to: "How can we provide guidance and support so they can be successful?"
On the issue of whether Mat-Su College should move from a two- to a four-year institution, Hogan advocated an incremental approach, beginning with a strategic plan.
"If it makes sense to the community and to the college to move to a four-year institution, I am willing to support that. I'm not entirely sure that it makes sense at this point," he said.
The other finalists also seeking the job are Mat-Su Mayor Talis Colberg; former Klamath Community College director Fred Smith, who is now the program director and instructor for Tillamook Bay Community College and Klamath County School District; and Kent State University Stark professor of marketing and current American Association of State Colleges and Universities senior fellow Betsy Vogel-Boze. Vogel-Boze was in the early 1990s chair of the University of Alaska Anchorage Business Administration Department and an associate marketing professor.
Smith is scheduled to appear at a community forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at the college cafe. Vogel-Boze is scheduled to appear at a forum set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the cafe.
By RINDI WHITE
rwhite@adn.com