Julie McDonald Commentary: New CC President’s Hobbies Are Cooking, Performing Music

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Congratulations to Bob Mohrbacher, Centralia College’s new president, who starts work July 1.

I sat in on the community sessions with three finalists two weeks ago and found myself impressed with all three — Derek Brandes, vice president of instruction at Green River College in Auburn; Virginia Tomlinson, vice president of instruction at Columbia Basin College in Pasco; and Mohrbacher, vice president of instruction and student services at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake.

A campus community screening committee narrowed the list of applicants from 40 to 10, and the vice presidents and board of trustees selected the top three finalists, who toured the college and met with staff, students, and the community. The board then evaluated 127 comments before offering the job to Mohrbacher.

“I think we are all feeling very pleased with the process and the fact we ended up with three really terrific candidates,” Centralia College Board of Trustees Chairwoman Joanne Schwartz said.

Mohrbacher holds a doctorate in education and community college leadership from Oregon State University, a master’s degree in creative writing from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington.

Before starting at Big Bend in 2010, Mohrbacher worked many years at Pierce College, which has campuses in Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom and provides college programs for Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In 2013, he was a finalist for president of the Puyallup campus.

Mohrbacher was born in Seattle in January 1959 and grew up in Bellevue. He attended the University of Washington, but quit for eight or nine years to cook in restaurants and play music, which he described as his two hobbies — although now he cooks at home and performs primarily for charities.

After earning his English degree, he survived teaching seventh grade for one year before attending George Mason University in Virginia, where he earned his master’s. He liked the idea of teaching at community colleges and applied at Tacoma Community College and Pierce College. Both offered him a job in the fall of 1992.

Community colleges are “providing an education that makes changes in people’s lives,” he said, noting the education transforms lives. Mohrbacher, who taught college English and American popular culture, served as department coordinator and later as interim vice president at Pierce College before moving to Moses Lake.

To increase Centralia’s enrollment, he spoke of identifying students who fail to graduate and finding ways to keep them in school. He also suggested better serving the Hispanic population.



Asked for his vision of the college in 10 years, Mohrbacher said it “needs a lot of thought and research, figuring out the relevancy between the population of the county, enrollment of the college, and what the real needs are.”

During his first 90 days, Mohrbacher said, he wants to meet people on campus and in the community, work with the department heads, and seek guidance from trustees to determine what’s needed and who to talk to.

“My No. 1 goal is to get to know as many people as possible,” he said.

While dealing with budget cuts, Mohrbacher noted that in Pierce County, he suggested eliminating his interim vice president position to save money and talked himself out of a job because it was in the best interest of the college.

At Big Bend, the college didn’t lay off anybody but cut eight faculty jobs through attrition by consolidating positions. He said employees stopped spending their travel and equipment budgets to save money.

Mohrbacher will replace Robert Frost, who was fired by the board in December and received $202,000 in a contract buyout. Former President James Walton has served as interim president since January.

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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.