Historical Note

The Office of Instruction was created when Lane Community College was established in 1965. The name of the department changed over the years: Office of Instruction, 1965-1974; Instructional Operations, 1974-1978; Office of Instruction, 1978-1986; Instructional Branch, 1986-1994; and Instructional Services, 1994-1997. In 1997, it was combined with Student Services to become the Instruction and Student Services Office.

Biographical Note

Gerald Rasmussen

Gerald Rasmussen spent 21 years at Lane Community College in a variety of positions. He was among the handful of Board of Education members and staff who, in late 1965, toured California community colleges and came back to create the educational plan which guided the development of the community college academically and architecturally. He said, "I was fortunate beyond belief to come in at the start of a new institution . . . and to be on the team which so successfully achieved what it set out to do."

He started to teach at Lane in 1965 as a history Instructor, and also served as the head of the social science department (1965-1967). In 1967, he became the Associate Dean of Instruction (1967-1974), then the Dean of Instruction (1974-1986). The title of the office changed in 1983 and he was known as the Vice President of Instruction.

Of special note in these files: Rasmussen was vice president of Membership and Regional Activities for the National Council of Instructional Administrators. His records include membership information, financial statements, newsletters, and correspondence related to this office.

Rasmussen served on many local, state, and regional committees and boards, and was a member of many organizations. In addition to his professional interests, he was particularly active in organizations that documented Danish heritage. He was a member of the Junction City Historical Society and Associate Member of Junction City Scandinavian Festival; he acted as Vice-Chairman of Danish American Heritage Society; and has served on the editorial board of The Bridge, which is the journal of the Danish American Heritage Society.

Before coming to Lane in 1965, Rasmussen served in the United States Navy (1944-1945). He was a physical education teacher at an elementary school in Redmond, Oregon (1951-1953); a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon (1953-1954); a high school social studies teacher and chairman of the social studies department in Albany, Oregon (1954-1957); a history and political science instructor at Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa (1957-1963), a Fulbright Lecturer at Danish Teacher’s Colleges, Denmark (1963-1964); and an instructor at Lower Columbia Junior College in Longview, Washington (1964-1965).

He spent a year at Askov Folk College in Askov, Denmark, as a foreign student in humanities (1948-1949). He obtained both a B.S. (1951) and an M.A. (1960) in history from the University of Oregon.

After serving at Lane, Rasmussen continued his work on documenting his Danish heritage. He was co-author of Oregon Danish Colony: Ethnic assimilation in Junction City 1902-1952. He has also translated and edited several works, including Kristian Østergaard’s Udvandrer Bogen and Jens Jensen’s A Journey with Obstacles.

Biographical Note

Jacquelyn Belcher

In 1986, Jacquelyn Belcher was named Vice President for Instruction by Richard Turner. At that time she was a teacher and administrator at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Washington. She served at Lane for four years, from 1986 through 1990. Belcher applied for Turner’s position as president after his resignation, but in 1990, Dr. Jerry Moskus was named Lane Community College’s sixth president. A month later, Belcher accepted a position as the president of Minneapolis Community College.

She remained in Minneapolis until 1994, moving on to serve as president of Georgia Perimeter College, where she was the first minority president of a non-minority institution and the first minority female president in the University System of Georgia. She retired in 2005 and created OptionsUnlimited, a company which provides executive coaching, organizational development, and personal and professional development services.

Before accepting her position at Lane, Belcher served as the Associate Dean of Instruction, Bellevue Community College, from 1977 to 1986; the Division Chairwoman of Health Science, Bellevue Community College, from 1973 to 1977; an instructor at Bellevue Community College; and the Director of Education, Sacred Heart General Hospital School of Nursing in Eugene, from 1966 to 1969.

She has a law degree from the University of Puget Sound, an M.A. from the University of Washington, and a B.S. from Marymount College.

Dr. Belcher has been active throughout her professional life, holding many offices and accepting many awards. She was the President of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges and served on Boards and as Chair of national committees such as HIV-AIDS and Health and Safety Services for the American Red Cross. Honors include the Mildred B. Bulpitt Woman of the Year Award from the American Association for Women in Community Colleges; the American Jurisprudence Award from The University of Puget Sound; the Woman of the Year Award by the Girl Scouts of America; and Marymount College's Outstanding Alumnus. In 2000, she received a Special Recognition Award from Minneapolis Community College at their 10th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and she was named into the YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers.

Belcher’s emphasis was on what the college could do for the community, how the community and college are linked. She said that she believes that there are too many community colleges more worried about the college than the community. “I sincerely, I honestly believe that community, both the one you’re trying to serve and the one on the campus, is what makes a community college.”

Biographical Note

Jim Ellison

In his 29 years at Lane, Jim Ellison served in 11 different positions. He began as a part-time instructor in the Study Skills department and ended his career as the Vice President for Instruction. While at Lane, he helped create the Academic Learning Skills department and the faculty union.

Ellison recognized that a community college’s unique mission was to meet the community’s needs; as such, he was committed to accommodating the community by providing alternative educational venues and expanding services to all sectors. According to Larry Warford, Ellison was guided by what was best for the college, particularly what was best for the students; he suspects this was why Jim invested so much effort into the college’s diversity planning. Warford said Ellison’s “leadership in addressing diversity issues affecting staff and students at Lane reflects his staunch commitment to fairness.”

Ellison worked as an assistant professor for the Study Skills Learning Center (1968-1973), chair of the Study Skills Learning Center (1973-1979), Associate Dean of Instructional Services (1979-1983), Dean of Liberal Arts (1983-1986), Dean of Instructional Support and Telecommunications (1986-1988), Dean of Evening/Weekend College (1988-1990), and Interim Vice President of Instruction (1990). He was hired as Vice President of Instruction in 1990 and retired from Lane in 1995. Ellison and his wife, Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts (former director of research and planning at Lane), remain involved in and actively committed to Lane County and Lane Community College.

Before coming to Lane, Ellison was an academic and drill instructor for the U.S. Air Force (1953-1957); a biology and basic science instructor at Irvington High School in Fremont, California (1962-1966); and an English and reading instructor at Churchill High School in Eugene, Oregon (1966-1967).

He was the only member of his family to get a college degree. “I grew up on a farm with no particular interest in college. I went into the service and got married before I realized I needed college to get somewhere.” Ellison has a B.S. and M.S., both from Oregon State University in 1962. He attended San Jose College and Chabot Junior College.

Biographical Note

Laurance Warford

Larry Warford’s community college career consists of a wide range of teaching and administrative experience. His administrative tenure at Lane Community College began in 1978 as the Assistant Dean of Instruction (1978-1982). He served as Executive Assistant to the President (1982-1986), Executive Dean (1986-1991), Vice President for Community and Economic Development (1991-1994), Vice President for Instruction (1994-1997), and Vice President for Instruction and Student Services (1997-2001).

While at Lane, he led the development of a staff and organizational effort based on the principles of shared governance, helped establish community learning centers at area high schools, and developed a custom workforce training program which established Lane as a major economic development partner. In the early to mid 1990s, he helped organize the League for Innovation’s Workforce 2000 Conference. This conference looked at how the community colleges could provide a wide range of workforce training services; Warford saw this as a niche area in providing occupational programs to the unemployed, underemployed, and undertrained.

In 2001, Dr. Warford accepted a position with the Department of Labor as the liaison for community colleges and community college organizations such as the American Association of Community Colleges and the League for Innovation in the Community College (2001-2003). His term ended in 2003 and he became the Project Director and Consultant for the League for Innovation in the Community College; he is responsible for the College and Career Transitions Initiative and serves as Senior Consultant for Workforce Development.

Nationally recognized for his research and leadership in workforce education, Warford serves on the boards of the National Workforce and Economic Development Commission of the AACC and the National Advisory Committee for Career and Technical Education Training Center at Ohio State University. He is the past president of the national Council for Continuing Education and Training, and is a consultant to the League for Innovation in the Community College. He served on the boards of the Lane Workforce Partnership, the Eugene and Springfield Chambers of Commerce, and the Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Partnership.

Prior to his Lane Community College experience, Dr. Warford served as a consultant to the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges for the western portion of the United States (1977-1978). His fifteen years of community college experience in Iowa included helping establish Iowa Central Community College, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He held the office of Dean of Adult and Community Education (1968-1977), Assistant Dean of Vocational Education (1967-1968), and Department Head and faculty member in the Business Administration area (1965-1967). He began his career as a business teacher at Fort Dodge Senior High School and Junior College (1963-1966).

Dr. Warford holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Oregon and Master's and Bachelor's Degrees in Business and Education from the University of Northern Iowa.