D
on’t call Gavilan College
“sleepy” or “old fashioned”
on the watch of its new
Superintendent/President,
Kathleen Rose. “All of its cobwebs are
cleaned off,” she told
TODAY —
both literally and virtually. “I want people
to recognize Gavilan as a place teeming
with innovation, ideas, and creativity.
You can come here as an entrepreneur, a
thinker, an analyst, a critical thinker on
almost any level and grow,” she said.
Growth is the key word in the future
of Gavilan College under Rose’s leader-
ship. The college, which was founded
in Gilroy in 1966, is in the process of
increasing its enrollment and expanding
programs, both on its main Gilroy campus
and in its satellite branches. The freshly
unveiled, revamped college website shows
the many paths the college is taking under
its dedicated new CEO, who rolls in from
Monterey by 7:30 am every morning, and
doesn’t leave most days until 7 pm. While
she may be new to the role of President,
Rose is a seasoned educator with a 34-year
career in education, a single mother who
raised two daughters, and fresh from the
role of Vice President of Gavilan, which
she held for seven years. In fact, more
gmh
accurately, she’s straddling both roles until
Gavilan finds a new VP, hopefully by the
new year. Her job, she said, is “exhilarating
and exhausting” not only because of her
many hats, but she’s steering the helm at
a time when Gavilan is in the process of
major expansion in many areas.
Rose, who claims that her door “is
always open” to anyone, at any time—
students, faculty, and inquiring minds—
is dedicated to increasing Gavilan’s
programming by increasing her outreach
to the four unique communities it serves
in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister and San
Benito County. In order to achieve this,
Rose instituted “coffee and conversation”
events over the summer in the four
geographical communities, where she
showed up in person and made herself
available to answer any and all ques-
tions people had for her. She hopes to do
something similar in the spring because
she feels it’s important that Gavilan is
“respon