MARYSVILLE, Calif. – The Yuba Community College District will soon be looking for a new chancellor.

Dr. Nicki Harrington announced Wednesday that she will retire at the end of the academic year, June 30, after more than 35 years of experience in higher education.

“My tenure at YCCD has been quite rewarding and I will always look back at my years here with fond memories,” Dr. Harrington said. “Retiring at the end of this academic year is bitter sweet. I’m sad to leave but at the same time I leave with peace of mind knowing that the district is in sound financial shape and headed in the right direction.”

Dr. Harrington has led YCCD, a multi-college district consisting of Yuba College and Woodland Community College, since February 2002. The district serves southern Lake County through its Clear Lake campus.

“She successfully transitioned us from a single college district to a multi-college district with the accreditation of Woodland Community College as the 110th college in the state, led us through a successful facilities bond campaign, the first in our district’s 84 year history, and strengthened our strategic direction and financial position in a time of economic downturn,” said Xavier Tafoya, chair of the YCCD Board of Trustees. “She will be hard to replace.”

Harrington presided over a time that saw districts struggle with budget cuts and some job losses.

Both she and the district's board of trustees came under fire early last year after the board granted her a more than $29,000 annual raise at the time it was discussing layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

Harrington said she originally had planned to retire in June 2012, but decided –after extensive review and reflection on the status of the district, its upcoming activities, “and what is best for both the district and me, both personally and professionally” – to retire earlier.

She said this all would be an “opportune time” to pass the baton to a new chancellor, who she said will have a strong executive team and a new board with whom to work to lead the district as it enters its next era.

There are projects under way throughout the district, said Harrington, including at the Clear Lake Campus, where the district last year purchased a property from the Konocti Unified School District to expand the facilities.

Harrington began her career in higher education as a faculty member, and subsequently served in dean, vice president, superintendent/president and chancellor positions.

She has held faculty and administrative positions in both two and four year colleges and universities, and has served in three chief executive officer positions in the past 14 years.

In 2008-09 Harrington served as the 0resident of the Chief Executive Officers of the California Community Colleges, and in 2009 as the chair of the Economic Development Program Advisory Committee for the State of California.

She also sits on the Board of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO), and the Sacramento Region’s Linking Education and Economic Development (LEED) Board.

The district – which spans eight counties and some 4,200 square miles of territory in rural, north-central California – reported that it will begin a national search for the next chancellor immediately, with an expected start date of this summer.

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