For Johnson, Taking Reins Is Chance to Give Back

You look at it on paper and you think, 'Gee, this is a great place.' You get here and it matches and surpasses, at least in my case, the expectations.

What have the first few weeks been like for you?

They have been exhilarating. They have been exciting. They have been laden with incredible support from the staff, from the internal college community, from the external community. They have been chock-full of meetings and introductions and information. I've been to Annapolis, I think, five times. . . . I immediately became involved in the final leg of the budgetary decisions. I met with the Education Committee of the [Montgomery] County Council. It's one of those situations in which I'm pinching myself because I'm absolutely thrilled to be here.

What do you think are the most significant issues facing Montgomery College right now?

The most significant issues facing the college today have to do with capital funding. We have put forth a request with our [Maryland Association of Community Colleges]. We put forth a request for funding as a group to the governor. Montgomery College's own request was for $40 million. That $40 million has embedded in it $27.8 million for a science center for the Rockville campus, $3.1 million for the renovation of our commons area at Takoma/Silver Spring, and then there's another $1.2 million for the renovation of our Germantown campus.

Instead of the $40 million that we requested, we received $1.2 million -- which is significantly short, so we're constantly pressing forward with our message, and to our delight, our Montgomery County delegation is fully informed and has continued to get the message through that we need this. The $40 million -- what that gets us is 59 classrooms, 106 labs. Of that $40 million, something like 98 percent of the money goes directly toward capacity building.

We also have a need to find a way to assist those students who come to us who are interested in enrolling and are capable, but don't have the financial wherewithal. That's going to be a challenge for the college, and we are working toward that end.

We are a school that has 40 percent of its personnel eligible to retire within a five-year window, so that's going to present a challenge as we work to keep a steady competitive workforce.

We will want to be a school that responds to ever-changing demographics. The goal of maintaining equal access to education for all eligible Montgomery County residents will be at the forefront or our agenda.

Talk a little bit about how the changing demographics affect the college.

They affect the college in a very positive way. You asked earlier about the attraction to Montgomery College. My very first experience after an interview here was a cab ride that I took. I asked the cabbie to take me to the Rockville campus, and we sat outside the campus and he actually said to me, 'Take a look at who's getting off of that bus, because what you're going to see is the world -- you will see the face of the world.' For me personally, one of the added attractions is the level of diversity that this college has so wonderfully embraced.