Head of California's New Online Community College Resigns After Less Than a Year

The head of California’s new online-only community college announced her resignation Monday, just shy of a year on the job and less than four months since the controversial school opened its virtual doors.

Calbright College President and CEO Heather Hiles will leave her post on March 31, and remain on administrative leave until then, an unexpected development that has prompted critics of the school to question its future.

Leadership of the college has been taken over by Calbright’s chief operating officer, Derek Gordon, and chief technology officer, Ari Bader-Natal. The school plans to appoint an interim chief executive officer until a new president and CEO is hired.

Hiles resigned of her own volition, according to Taylor Huckaby, the college’s communications director.

“Our board appreciates the leadership provided by Ms. Hiles during her tenure as Calbright’s chief executive officer,” said Tom Epstein, president of the college’s board of trustees, in a statement Monday. “She led the launch of the start-up college that has already enrolled hundreds of students. Systems are in place to expand operations over time to meet the college’s goal of providing flexible online job-based learning opportunities to help adult workers in California obtain the skills they need to advance their careers.”

Hiles’ sudden departure, less than a year into her four-year contract, revived previously stated concerns by community college faculty groups over the amount of money the college — and Hiles — has received to develop programs they contend already exist within the other 114 community colleges. The college receives about $20 million annually for operating costs.

The entirely online, free community college opened its virtual doors in October, and has since enrolled more than 300 students in one of three program pathways, all of which are self-paced and designed to be completed in under one year.

The college was seen as a bold initiative championed by former Gov. Jerry Brown to serve so-called “stranded workers” — older workers who need additional skills to advance in their careers without having to go back to college to get a degree. Although anyone can enroll in the college, Brown envisioned it specifically serving underemployed adult students, between the ages of 25 and 34, working part time or stuck in positions that don’t pay a living wage.

In a statement, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges President Debbie Klein and Executive Director Evan Hawkins said, “We wish Heather Hiles the best in her future endeavors. … Unfortunately, new leadership alone will not fix this inherently flawed use of state resources.”

The group, which represents more than 9,000 members and advocates for community college faculty, said there have been serious concerns since Calbright’s inception.

“We continue to question the value of Calbright. The college has already received $140 million of state funding while violating the Educational Code with duplication,” the statement said. ”Its per-student funding is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars as our other colleges receive the lowest per-student funding, and the college is now without leadership only months after opening its doors to students.”

The California Federation of Teachers, the union representing 30,000 community college employees, including faculty members, has been opposed to the online college since Brown first proposed it. Last year, the union threatened a lawsuit if the online college failed to immediately meet goals that had been outlined by the Legislature.

CFT President Jeff Freitas said the union had voiced its criticism about how much Hiles was paid, her previous professional position, the lack of transparency at Calbright and the direction Hiles was moving the college. Among the criticisms: that Hiles’ starting salary of $385,000 exceeded that of statewide community colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley by nearly $75,000.

“Unfortunately, so much money has been spent for so few students that could have been used for the same targeted student community,” Freitas said, referring to Calbright’s focus on helping working adults achieve the certificates they need for better-paying, higher-skilled jobs. He said those funds would have been better used at existing community colleges with similar online programs.

As part of Calbright’s mission, the school has pledged to partner with employers and unions to offer apprenticeships to students in the school’s three professional programs — information technology, medical coding and cybersecurity. Although those apprenticeships were expected to be revealed this spring, no arrangements with companies or unions have yet been announced.

Hiles, a technology entrepreneur and former deputy director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was hired last February to lead the state’s 115th community college. In addition to base salary and ongoing living adjustments, Hiles’ contract also included yearly performance bonuses up to $10,000 in the first year that could have increased to as much as $40,000 in the fourth year, and a $10,000 annual vehicle allowance.

Huckaby said there is a separation agreement, but it has not yet been made public.

A representative from Chancellor Oakley’s office said it would not be commenting at this time on Hiles’ resignation. In September, Oakley said the new college should be given ample time to establish itself and get underway, although he acknowledged mistakes had been made over the previous year, including Hiles’ push to grant a no-bid contract of up to $500,000 to an executive recruiter.

Despite the most recent setback, board of trustees President Epstein said he was optimistic about the college’s potential.

“We look forward to working closely with the public officials who entrusted us with oversight responsibility of Calbright to make the college a success,” Epstein said. “Calbright has the potential to be a powerful resource to help millions of low-income and disadvantaged Californians move up the economic ladder. We are determined to fulfill that goal.”