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UPDATE: Read a related story about filliing McLaughlin's position here.
After two years with the Alamo Community College District as vice chancellor for administration, James McLaughlin offered his resignation to Chancellor Bruce Leslie Sept. 28.
Dec. 31, McLaughlin’s official retirement day, he said might be a sad day for some in the district to lose an asset, but it is a momentous occasion for McLaughlin: He is getting married.
“I’m sure the timing isn’t ideal, but it’s ideal for me,” McLaughlin said of his recent engagement.
“It was the more logical thing to do in terms of career moves,” he said, noting his fiancée has not retired.
McLaughlin popped the question in the first part of August after a two-year, long-distance relationship.
Sheilla Ortego, McLaughlin’s fiancée, resides and is employed in New Mexico at Santa Fe Community College, where he also worked from 2003 to 2006 as the chief financial officer before becoming president.
The two met before the college hired McLaughlin, he said.
McLaughlin admitted to reaching the traditional retirement age of 65 while chivalrously shielding Ortego’s age, saying that she is not even 60.
McLaughlin joined the district Sept. 4, 2007. He has worked in almost every capacity in higher education with more than 25 years of service in community colleges and 10 years at universities.
He served as vice president for business affairs at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M., chief financial officer for the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver, as well as associate controller at the University of New Mexico.
Chancellor Bruce Leslie said Sept. 30 that McLaughlin’s experience and expertise as the district’s financial officer will be missed.
Leslie added that the financial operating system is much more equipped to deal with the district’s concerns than it has been in recent years.
Leslie said as the vice chancellor for finance, McLaughlin aided in “strengthening financial staffing. He brought in and developed a very strong team and now we have a great system that goes hand-in-hand.”
Leslie credits McLaughlin’s leadership with extending the district’s bond rates from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, which issue credit ratings based on grading methods for a business’s ability to maintain a positive financial capacity and continue to meet policyholders’ obligations.
Recently, Leslie said he received a call from the Association of Community College Business Officers, an organization that contributes to the advancement of business and fiscal affairs in community colleges, announcing that McLaughlin is being honored as one of the top educational financial officers in the country.
McLaughlin has received a few meritorious awards in the past for his service. Eight years ago, he was proclaimed one of the top financial officers in the region including New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota.
Still, management of the district and its budgeting have come under fire as the district continually cuts college budgets, which in turn cuts student services, to overcome a deficit.
McLaughlin defended his tenure, saying his overall communication has been straightforward if he has the information available.
He said he has never worked anywhere as a financial officer that has obtained a AA1 rating from Moody’s. In addition, this is the first place he worked that has earned it as well as Standard & Poor’s AA+, which is equivalent to the Moody’s rating.
“I feel good about that,” he said, “because financial officers know how difficult it is to achieve that.”
He said both companies issued those positive ratings because of the likelihood that the financial operations at district will surpass a good standard.
He said he didn’t expect to achieve those high standards while he was here.
As to the budget deficit, he said, “Did trustees put together a funding stream that comes close to a balance? The answer is yes.
“It was prudent and reasonable and it’s not uncommon,” he continued. “There are adjustments and increases based on their circumstances.”
Trustees have been setting aside money from the fund balance account, however, cuts in student services are the colleges’ decisions, he said.
“I could not comment on allocations through the colleges,” he said. “They base it off of the number of contact hours produced by the individual departments. The allocations are independent from college to college.”
As a vigorous financial representative for college districts in the nation through the years, McLaughlin has never minced words.
That goes for leisure time, too.
Growing up in Vernonville, Mich., he found an immediate affinity for folk music and also has an extensive taste for bluegrass music, primarily bands — some of his favorites being Blue Highway and South by Southwest, led by guitarist and vocalist Michael Hearne.
Over the years, McLaughlin has traveled the country to experience live music from his roots from the Kerrville Folk Festival to the Kate Wolfe Memorial Music Festival and the Walnut Creek Music Festival in Winfield, Kan.
McLaughlin said he dabbles with playing the fiddle and banjo as a hobby, so people might catch a glimpse of him at the Kerrville Folk Festival.
“If I’m good enough, you’ll see me on stage,” he said.
But McLaughlin has no aspirations of continuing in higher education. He used to maintain a couple of small businesses on the side — housing renovations and architectural restorations — so now his plan is to place more focus on independent work.
McLaughlin said he also unofficially reviews theater, films, books and scripts.
“I’ve got a pretty good eye for storyline tracks,” he said.
He was a financial supporter for a historical sporting book that detailed the 1908 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, and currently, he has a financial stake in a film in development that he believes has the capability of going mainstream.
Because it is still in the negotiation stage, McLaughlin could not disclose any further information.
