TSJC presidential candidates meet public in Valley campus community forums

Dr. Diana Pino/Courier photo by Ruth Heide

(This is the first of three articles featuring the Trinidad State Junior College presidential finalists. Friday’s Courier will feature Ron Slinger, and Saturday’s Courier will feature Dr. Rhonda Epper. The community is invited to meet Dr. Epper today, Thursday, at 12:15 p.m. in the TSJC-Valley Campus new addition, Room #120.)

ALAMOSA — Originally from Santa Fe but currently living and working in the Houston area, Dr. Diana Pino was the first of three finalists for the Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC) president’s position to meet with the community during a public forum Wednesday.

The successful presidential candidate will replace Dr. Carmen Simone who took a position in South Dakota. Dr. Kerry Hart has been filling in as interim president during the search period.

During a lunchtime community forum at TSJC-Valley Campus, Dr. Pino fielded questions from the community ranging from cultural perspectives to staff development.

Pino is currently an adjunct lecturer at the University of Houston as well as the president and CEO of Capstone HigherEd Services, a consultant firm providing services to colleges, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. She said her associations through Capstone would provide her with valuable networking resources.

She has 20 years experience in higher education, most at the community college level, and has served as educator, dean of student services and vice chancellor of student services.

Dr. Pino is from Santa Fe, N.M. and said her interest in the TSJC position is because of the similarities existing between New Mexico and Colorado.

“One of my passions is working for under represented populations,” Pino said. That is why she has been interested in working with community colleges, she added, because community colleges offer educational opportunities for people from backgrounds who might not be able to go to college otherwise.

She said as a Hispanic, she would welcome working with a Hispanic Serving Institution, which TSJC is. Her doctoral dissertation dealt with advancing Hispanic/Latino students, and she teaches Mexican American studies at the University of Houston.

When asked how she would strengthen TSJC’s role as a Hispanic Serving Institution, Pino said it is important in retaining Hispanic students for them to be able to see themselves in their teachers and leadership roles. “That’s not to say those are the only people who can influence them, but it definitely provides them hope and the belief if that person can do it, then so can I.”

She said it is important that every group has a voice and is represented.

“We can be a community that embraces diversity, not just tolerates it but embraces it and appreciates not only ethnic but gender, sexual orientation, all the differences that make us a better people,” Pino said.

When asked what she as someone from the urban Houston area could bring to a rural area like that served by TSJC, Pino “While I don’t have expertise per se in rural community colleges, I think my expertise in leadership can help us get to where we all want to be … As a leader it’s my responsibility to challenge and push the envelope and together determine what it is we need to do to move us into the next level.”

Pino said as a licensed counselor with a background in psychology she understands that it is human nature to be concerned about how change might affect you and to be afraid of getting outside a comfort zone, but as someone who moved around frequently as a child, “I crave change to some degree … but recognize it cannot happen overnight and has to be inclusive of the voices that are going to be affected by it.”

She added that change must be enacted for the benefit of the students. “If you don’t have students first as your primary interest then higher education probably isn’t the best place for you because that’s what drives our decisions … what’s best for students.”

When asked how she would embrace the “student first” core value of TSJC in her everyday life as president of the college, Pino said she wakes up every morning with that concept driving her. As president of a community college the students would be number one “but not at the cost of the people that run the college. It’s that balance. I feel I wake up every day with the students in mind.”

When asked what professional development and in-service training looked like for her, Pino said there needs to be a balance between fun activities and learning during such trainings. She said professional training could be derived from partnerships with entities that will provide it for free.

Also, professional development can be “excavated” internally — “what can you teach each other?”

She advocated “trying to find creative ways to get what you need but in different formats.”

She also advocated interdisciplinary cooperation and student input.

Considering the San Luis Valley is a close-knit community, Pino was asked how she would become part of that community. She said she would be living in the area and would want to have a regular presence at the Valley campus. She said she has always been involved in the community and would continue that here.

She would work with the community to benefit community organizations as well as the college, she said. “I would be out and about in the community in many different ways,” she said.

She said she also likes to attend student athletic events and take an interest in what students are doing. She said she has time, since her stepson is in high school and she has no biological children.

She said she has the energy and passion for the job and believes a president should have a high energy level.

“It’s a way of life, not a job,” she said. “It’s really a 24/7 job.”

She added that although she tries to take care of herself and balance family and work, “I enjoy working.”

Responding to what kind of partnership she envisioned with Adams State, Pino said relationships have always been important during her career, as would be the relationship between TSJC and ASU. Coming in, she would want to listen and find out what the issues and opportunities are, she said.

She said healthy competition could be a good thing.

She added that she was also not afraid of conflict not necessarily because she enjoyed it but because of her counseling background and personality, “I am going to address the elephant in the room. Let’s have the conversation.”