The acting leader of SPC's Tarpon Springs campus is fondly remembered from his days as dean of academic services at the school's Clearwater campus.
By MEGAN SCOTT
Published May 11, 2003
PALM HARBOR - Don't tell Robert Ramsay that working for a community college is not as rewarding as working for a university.
Ramsay has worked for community colleges across the nation for more than 30 years and says they are much more exciting.
"Some people are university people," he said. "Some people are community college people. To me, community colleges have a lot more energy. Changes come much more quickly than they do on the university level."
Those are just a couple of the reasons that Ramsay, 58, is coming out of early retirement to become acting provost at St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs campus.
Another reason: He wants to live in Florida.
Two of his children live here. Two of his grandchildren are here.
And he knows St. Petersburg College.
Ramsay was dean of academic services at the college's Clearwater campus from 1980 to 1984.
"I haven't seen him since then," said Maria Edmonds, associate provost of St. Petersburg College's Tarpon Springs campus. "What I recall is he was a very creative man, very good with people. He was the kind of person you could come to with an idea and he would never discourage you."
Edmonds may not recognize the man who was the academic dean when she was a psychology professor. But she remembers that he was very student-oriented, very easy to talk to and had a great sense of humor.
Ramsay was born in Philadelphia. He has degrees from Long Island University, Temple University and University of Miami. He taught film production at the University of Miami for two years while studying to receive his doctorate.
Ramsay left St. Petersburg College in 1984 to become president of North Florida Community College in Madison. He stayed three years before moving to the presidency of Camden County Community College in New Jersey.
From there, it was on to San Antonio, Texas, where he was the chancellor of the Alamo Community College District.
But he never forgot St. Petersburg College.
"I really liked it there," said Ramsay, from his home in San Antonio. "I liked the people who worked there. So when my wife and I were talking about where we wanted to go, the place we remembered most fondly was St. Petersburg College."
Ramsay will become acting provost of the Tarpon Springs campus starting June 1 with a salary of $107,000. He will replace Nick Billiris, who is retiring June 30 after more than 30 years with the college.
"I just can't imagine whose community college experiences are any richer to be moving into that position," said Larry Tyree, a professor at the University of Florida and a friend of Ramsay's. "You would think a person with the successes he enjoys might have an egotistical attitude. But not at all. He's a humble, real straight kind of guy."
St. Petersburg College has several campuses throughout the county, with the main campuses in Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Seminole and St. Petersburg.
The position is a new beginning for Ramsay, whose last two years as chancellor of the Alamo Community College District were mired in controversy.
Ramsay resigned as chancellor last fall "amid growing controversies in the district, including an ill-fated site for a new campus and a questionable contract process for a construction manager," according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The newspaper also reported that the tension between Ramsay and the board of trustees had become so high that Ramsay filed criminal charges against a trustee for threatening him and his family.
A Bexar County grand jury indicted two of the trustees, Donald McClure and Jesse Gonzalez, and former board chairman Robert "Tinker" Garza on public corruption charges ranging from bribery to organized crime.
"The trustees getting indicted, all that stuff kind of soured me," said Ramsay. "Members started going at each other's throats. People started taking bribes. It got to be a situation where I didn't want to be. It wasn't fun anymore."
The board of trustees had renegotiated Ramsay's contract in August 2001 and increased his annual salary from $181,000 to $199,650. The new contract also had an option for early retirement.
Ramsay took it. Sept. 30 was his last day. They paid him through this coming August.
But despite the controversies in San Antonio, Ramsay was eager to find another place to work.
A few months ago, he called his old friend, President Carl Kuttler Jr. of St. Petersburg College, and learned of Billiris' retirement.
He had several offers from community colleges and universities.
His heart, though, was with St. Petersburg College.
As acting provost, Ramsay will be eligible to apply for the permanent post once the school launches a national search, said college spokeswoman Amelia Carey. She did not know when that search would start.
In the meantime, Ramsay is preparing for the big move. His house in San Antonio is on the market, and he and his wife, Terry, are coming to Tarpon Springs next week to look at homes.
"This is the first time that I have really been lucky enough to be offered an opportunity to go to an institution that's in a location my wife and I both love," Ramsay said. "I just want to enjoy working with the faculty, students and staff at the Tarpon Springs campus to make the college even better than it is."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Megan Scott can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or mscott@sptimes.com
