STATE BRIEFS Tsang looks to mend ties with city
SMC HDQTRS. — For a manager who has built a reputation on being a hard worker and attentive to his staff, it seemed an odd occurrence Monday afternoon when Santa Monica College President Chui Tsang, Ph.D., failed to show for a meeting regarding construction projects at the main campus.
After about an hour, an embarrassed Tsang strode in.
“Traffic,” the 55-year-old Chinese immigrant said as he settled into his office overlooking Pico Boulevard. “I didn’t expect it to take so long.”
Having just started his new job as the superintendent/president of SMC last week, there are a lot of things about Southern California, and the school campus in particular, with which Tsang has yet to become familiar. Certainly, his hands will be full in the coming weeks as he takes the reins of one of the most popular and respected community colleges in the country.
In addition to becoming acquainted with a new staff, faculty and student body, Tsang, the former president of San Jose City College, must cram to learn the intricacies surrounding the college’s financial woes, its facilities, and its rocky relationship with its neighbors and City Hall. SMC and City Hall have had a strained relationship for decades over the college’s growth in the community and its effects on residents.
“We have to become better neighbors and build strong relationships with our major partners here — they being city government, the school district and also the community,” said Tsang, who has a doctorate in Linguistics. “We need to work together as closely as possible to tackle common issues and if there are different issues where there may be conflict, we need to work on those to minimize the pressure we place on each other.”
One of the first issues on tap is the lack of parking in and around campus, which forces students to park in surrounding neighborhoods. Tsang said he understands residents’ concerns and hopes to work with City Hall to find solution. He has an appointment in the next week to meet with City Manager Lamont Ewell to discuss parking and other issues.
Tsang also seemingly has his work cut out for him when it comes to strengthening ties with faculty and nonteaching employees, who had repeatedly complained about their contracts and the management style of Tsang’s predecessor, Dr. Piedad Robertson.
In attempts to build bridges, Tsang is looking to relocate his office onto the school campus, as he did at San Jose, where he would oftentimes walk with students to glean their concerns.
“I can remember one instance in particular when Chui took the time out to give this student a tour of the entire campus, introduce him to everyone,” said San Jose trustee Ron Lind. “He didn’t have to do that, but that is the kind of guy Chui is. He understands how important it is to have input from everyone involved.”
It is that willingness to come out from behind the podium and foster long-lasting ties with those around him that made Tsang so attractive to SMC trustees.
“His management style is low key, but strong, which we felt would mesh well with the needs of our students and the community,” said trustee Rob Rader. “With new leadership comes a new paradigm, and we need to finally heal divisions on campus. It’s not right that we expend so much energy fighting amongst ourselves when we should be fighting for our students.”
Tsang served as president of San Jose City College for nearly nine years. During that time, he was credited with helping pass two bond measures that resulted in over $200 million in improvements to the campus’ facilities, much like SMC is doing right now.
“I see a lot of similarities between San Jose and SMC,” Tsang said. “We had some issues of our college community coming together. There were a lot of conflicts, and in some ways we here have some internal disagreements. But when I was (at San Jose), I was able to bring people together and form a leadership that unified the campus and its direction. There is that same, strong desire here, and it seems people are waiting for some type of catalyst, and I hope to be that catalyst.”
Tsang first became interested in education when he was 19 and a freshman at Contra Costa College. He was fascinated by the intense, intimate interaction he had with his professors, who seemed to be so enthusiastic and encouraging. This was a far cry from his days as a student in Hong Kong, where he was born and raised. There, students were not allowed to address their teachers without raising their hands. Lesson plans were very strict, and Tsang felt he was being forced, rather than encouraged, to learn.
“I was not a straight-A student. I really became disenchanted with school and felt that it wasn’t relevant in my life,” he said. “But when I came here, it was a completely different experience. I was amazed by the teaching style here, very hands on, project oriented. Whereas, in Hong Kong, it was about memorization.”
After attending Contra Costa for two years, Tsang transferred to U.C. Berkeley to earn his bachelor’s in Linguistics. He then received his doctorate degree from Stanford. From there, he served as the executive director of the Career Resources Development Center, a vocational training and employment agency. He went on to become dean of the School of Applied Science and Technology at the City College of San Francisco.
However, none of that compares to leading SMC, a job which Tsang, a father of two college-aged children, hopes to maintain until he retires.
“It would be wonderful to have this be the finale,” he said. “I want to stay and I hope I will be allowed to stay. This institution has a wonderful history and a reputation for high academic achievement, not only in the country, but across the world. I hope to continue that.”
In the meantime, he is trying to settle into his new life in Santa Monica. He is renting an apartment in town while he combs the area in search of a new permanent residence and new favorite eateries. He has also made the difficult decision to change his favorite professional soccer team from the San Jose Earthquakes to his adopted-hometown Los Angeles Galaxy. In all, it’s been a fairly painless transition.
“It’s not difficult to adjust to Santa Monica,” Tsang said with a laugh. “You are making it easier for me with all the rain. There’s great people here, great restaurants, great natural beauty, scenery, beautiful weather — everything. ”
Well, all that, and a wee bit of traffic.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 7, 2006. Read the original PDF.