COC PRESIDENT BUILDS UP SCHOOL ON SOLID FOUNDATION.

Byline: VICTORIA GIRAUD

Dianne Van Hook, president of College of the Canyons, likes to keep moving forward, responding to challenges.

``I like developing things. I don't like static; I don't like organizations that are entrenched, dying on the vine. It's not what motivates me.''

College of the Canyons, where she's been president since 1988, fits the bill. The Valencia campus is in the midst of its fifth building project in seven years, and Van Hook said the community college district is one of the five fastest growing districts in the state. From a current enrollment of 7,000, the state projects 20,000 by 2005.

Van Hook's position requires that she work with the community and the state to ensure the college gets the funding it needs. She credits her abilities to generate resources partly to the fact that she started working in community colleges just before Proposition 13. As a result of education funding cutbacks that took effect a year later, Van Hook acquired the expertise necessary to generate funds through cooperative ventures.

``I've always been a scrapper. I'm always able to get money,'' she said.

As college president, Van Hook travels to the state capital ``to influence the legislative and budget process in Sacramento.'' To accomplish the building of an energy-efficient utility plant for the college, Van Hook once made nine trips to Sacramento in 13 days.

``I've had to fight for facilities. Sometimes I find it exhausting, but we don't employ a lobbyist. I also find it very rewarding, but the process is redundant in Sacramento. There are too many rules.''

Santa Clarita is an active community of philanthropy and good intentions, she said.

``They're committed to cooperation, to finding common ground and maximizing their resources.'' They promote partnerships to create the best community, ``putting aside personal preferences to get to that goal.''

Van Hook was interested in the college long before she went to work there. She applied for the president's position in 1983 even though she knew she wasn't qualified, saying it was a combination of ``blind ambition and total optimism.'' She did, however, get an interview. By the time the position was open again in 1988, she had accumulated the experience needed and got the job.

A graduate of Long Beach City College, a community college, Van Hook began her career as a junior high school English and history teacher in Cerritos. She married her college speech teacher, Roger, before she began teaching. She jokes that she received her degree on a Saturday, got married on Sunday and started teaching on Monday.

Their romance developed when a mutual friend asked both to go ocean sailing in a 30-foot sloop. ``We got stranded out there without a motor,'' Van Hook remembered. The outing created a bond that led to dating and a romantic relationship.

Teaching was fine for a while, but she got restless, she said, and anxious to try something new.

``I really liked administration. It became clear that if I was going to move up I need to be flexible.''

Van Hook said her marriage of 25 years has been a very understanding one, especially because her job pursuits have landed her in places far away from Roger, who continues to teach in Long Beach and maintains their home in Seal Beach.

``We tend to appreciate each other. There are not as many opportunities to grate on each other's nerves. He's very supportive, and it works for us.''

Community colleges have been Van Hook's career forte as she climbed the administrative ladder. She has worked at Santa Ana College, and was dean of Lake Tahoe College and Feather River College in Quincy, Calif.

Feather River was an excellent experience, she said. She was told by a colleague that she would ``learn more in two years there than in a larger place in 10 years.'' The small, isolated town of 17,000 is surrounded by 250 lakes. Because she was in charge she had to work well with the people and build partnerships.

Born in Minnesota, Dianne Van Hook found that the time she spent on her grandmother's farm until she moved to Long Beach with her family at age 13 was valuable experience in helping her relate to the residents of Feather River. ``I came from a small town, from tough stock.''

She views Santa Clarita as a ``can-do'' community. ``The same is true of the people at the college, and I'm that kind of person. I feel a debt of gratitude to community colleges. They build confidence in your capabilities. They're smaller, that's why. I have a lot of passion about what we do and how we do it. That's why I'm not doing anything else.''

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Photo: Dianne Van Hook

``I like developing things''