Published August 2004

Richart leaves Cascadia; interim leader named

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Dr. Victoria Munoz Richart, founding president of Cascadia Community College, has left the Bothell school to accept a position as head of MiraCosta Community College in Oceanside, Calif.

“I am on the one hand delighted with this new opportunity, and the proximity to my children and grandson,” said Richart, who came on board as Cascadia’s president in July 1998 after serving as vice chancellor of educational services with the Los Angeles Community College District in California.

“On the other hand, I will be increasing the distance between many wonderful and outstanding individuals that make up the Cascadia and UWB families,” she said, referring to the University of Washington, Bothell, which shares a campus with the community college.

In her time at Cascadia, Richart helped secure the final phase of state funding for the school, which opened alongside the University of Washington, Bothell, in 2000 as the first co-located campus in the United States.

From the beginning, Richart’s vision for Cascadia was focused on the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, with the school offering associate degree programs, an array of certification programs in information technology and easy access to high-tech computer labs and a media center complete with a multimedia studio.

And even before Cascadia opened, Richart was looking to the future and the school’s proposed Center for Arts Technology and Global Interaction, with its focus on new media technologies and entrepreneurship.

“It will also focus on foreign languages,” she said during a July 2000 interview, “because in the global economy, people are going to have to know more than one language.”

During Richart’s tenure, Cascadia was recognized as a Vanguard Learning College by the League for Innovation in the Community College and also was honored as a leader in technology by the New Media Consortium as well as the Center for Digital Education.

“There have been a tremendous number of people who have helped make this institution so remarkable,” said Richart, whose last day at Cascadia was June 30. “It has been a true pleasure to be a part of the creation of a brand new college, and it is extremely rewarding to see the community embracing the college and recognizing the contributions it makes to the economic fabric of the region.”

Following Richart’s departure, Cascadia’s Executive Vice President for Student Learning, Dr. Jean Hernandez, will serve as acting president through August, at which time Dr. Brinton Sprague will become the interim president, said Suzanne Ames, Cascadia’s director of communications.

Sprague, Cascadia’s vice president for student learning before retiring in 2002, is a former vice president for education services for Skagit Valley College and also has served as division chair and director for North Seattle Community College.

As for selecting a permanent president, Cascadia’s board of trustees will embark on selecting a search firm to take the lead in coordinating the process, which will be national in scope, Ames said.

“I think the hope is that we will be able to start the (2005) school year with a new president,” she said.

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