Laurie Chesley, president of Central Oregon Community College, is looking forward to traveling more after her retirement next summer. The college’s board will likely begin searching for her successor this fall.

Chesley, 61, joined the college as its sixth president in 2019. She has championed workforce development projects at the college, such as the expansion of the COCC Madras campus, which recently began construction.

Chesley described herself as a lifelong learner.

“I was a totally, totally nerdy kid, and I was the one who liked school and who was sad when it was summer,” she said. “I just liked it and thought ‘How can I keep doing this for the rest of my life?’”

After graduate school, Chesley was a faculty member in higher education before moving to administrative roles. Before joining COCC, she was the provost at Grand Rapids Community College and spent most of her life in Michigan.

While deciding on presidency jobs to apply for, Chesley determined she wanted to live either in the Midwest, where she is from, or Oregon. She visited Florence, Oregon, several times with her husband to see friends, and decided during those trips that it would be a great place to come back to.

Workforce development

Chesley has focused on workforce development throughout her time at COCC, but also navigated the college through the pandemic.

“COVID was a tough time. I focused really hard on being transparent and honest but still hopeful during what was really a horrible time for everyone,” she said. “It’s important to me to tell the truth.”

Under Chesley’s leadership, the college invested in the Center for Business Industry and Professional Development for workforce training and the Small Business Development Center. It has added apprenticeship programs and health care training through St. Charles Health System. COCC is also now part of a group of colleges creating a bachelor of science degree program in nursing.

“I’m really proud of the facility we’re building in Madras; that project to me seems like the perfect example in action: to serve a clear community need for more health care and child care workers,” said Chesley.

Expanding COCC’s reach

Laura Craska Cooper, vice chair of the COCC board, wishes that Chesley was staying longer but wishes her well in her retirement. Chesley helped improve online- and hybrid-class options, which stood out to her as a great achievement.

“Offering online or hybrid courses is a great way to reach people who are outside the more urban corridors of Redmond and Bend,” she said. “She, I think, advanced us probably 10 years in those two years as far as online classes. Suddenly we were offering a huge number of classes online and by all accounts it’s gone virtually seamlessly.”

Alicia Moore, vice president of student affairs for the college, said Chesley is personable, open to new ideas and led the college well through the pandemic.

“She’s also set the college up so that in the coming year or two we will really see some greater emphasis on developing programs in response to industry needs,” said Moore. “That leadership around workforce is tremendous.”

Heather Ficht, executive director of East Cascades Works, said she immediately hit it off with Chesley because of their shared interest in workforce development.

“She just hasn’t been afraid to try new things, to meet with the business and industry in town, to really make their programming more relevant,” she said. “She has just been a breath of fresh air. She’s so easy to work with and creative and open to change.”

What’s next

Over the next year, Chesley plans to focus on the projects in COCC’s strategic plan, such as the Madras campus expansion and a remodel of the manufacturing and advanced technology center in Redmond. This coming year is the college’s 75th anniversary.

“We’re not just gonna sit around and wait for somebody new and say ‘We’ll let that wait for them’ or ‘We’ll let that decision wait.’ We need to keep moving forward,” said Chesley.

She is looking forward to riding her bike more in retirement, and is still thinking of ways she can give back through volunteering.

“The passions are easier, the purposes, you need to be more thoughtful,” she said. Chesley added that she is considering fostering kittens or volunteering at an animal shelter.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, telling the staff, my leadership team, that I was planning to retire,” she said. “I’m not worried about the college moving forward. Whoever is the next person is going to be welcomed into this community and have people who want this institution to succeed. That’s golden.”

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