March 21. 2012______________________________
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Page II
Transitioning to Retirement
PCC leader made building access to college a priority
Preston Pulliams, district president of Portland Commu
nity College, announced his plans to retire from the college
next year, July 2013, at PCC’s Board of Directors meeting
Thursday night.
Pulliams has served as PCC’s president since 2004, and is
perhaps best known for leading the college through a
dramatic surge in enrollment while state funding for public
education has declined, tirelessly seeking other resources
and looking for more efficient ways to help serve the region’s
educational needs.
“The leadership that Dr. Pulliams has brought to the
college has created outstanding new opportunities for stu
dents and for our community - and we are deeply apprecia
tive of his commitment,” said Jim Harper, chair of the PCC
Board of Directors.
“Dr. Pulliams has made a huge impact on PCC, and the
Board remains committed to the important initiatives launched
under his leadership. His announcement gives us the time to
launch an inclusive, thorough process to find his succes
sor,” Harper said.
During Pulliams’ time at the college, he worked to increase
the college’s visibility among community and business;
leaders, sharing his vision for increasing access to higher
education and ensuring that students have the best oppor
tunities to succeed.
PCC’s full-time enrollment has grown 40 percent since
2006-07, serving students who are pursuing degrees and
certificates, skill building for job transitions, high school
diplomas, continuing education and personal development.
One of the most significant achievements during Pulliams’
tenure was the passage of a $374 million bond measure in
2008, the largest educational bond measure in Oregon.
Funding from the bond has allowed PCC to engage in
ongoing work to increase the number of classrooms, expand
workforce training programs, and modernize facilities
throughout the college district. This has included PCC’s
100,000-square-foot Willow Creek Center in Hillsboro, which
opened in 2010, and the Newberg Center, which opened in
continued
on page 19
Portland Community College President Preston
Pulliams has announced his plans to retire in 2013.
Blanchet House
Celebrates
A new Blanchet House of Hospitality is under construction on Northwest Glisan Street in Old Town right next door to the old landmark which has served Portland's
disadvantaged residents with food, clothing and other services for 60 years.
Old Town mission
building new facility
The Blanchet House of Hospitality, a
Portland based non-profit, is celebrating
its 60th anniversary.
Supporters are in the final stages of a
$ 12 million fund-raising effort to replace
its 100-year-old building that housed the
mission since its beginning. The new site
is next door at the com er of Northwest
Third Avenue and Glisan Street in Old
Town.
The current facility, with its small
dining hall and even smaller kitchen, has
served over 15 million meals since Feb
ruary 1952. It has also provided transi
tional housing for thousands of men over
the years who, in exchange for room and
board, help with the preparation and
delivery of hot meals to the homeless
and underserved. Nearly 300,000 meals
were served in 2010.
The project has been many years in
the making and has been made possible
thanks to many involved partners, in
cluding the City of Portland, which pro
vided the land and a significant grant to
help make the new building possible.
continued
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