There are a number of people on the EC campus that do not understand what it is exactly that Tom Fallo, EC president and superintendent, does for the campus and community.
Ken Brown, vice president of the EC board of trustees does not find this surprising. His explanation of Fallo’s job likens the college president to that of a CEO of a corporation.
“He is the CEO of El Camino. Different campuses call it different things,” Brown said.
“He works for the board. He is the tip of the spear of how things get done on the campus,” Brown added.
Fallo, who has been with EC since 1995, oversees operations at both the Torrance campus and the Compton center.
Fallo himself views his role as one in which he serves the EC community as a whole.
“I’m part of a team. I’m part of a community,” Fallo said.
Brown said that Fallo’s job is to “implement the policy set forth by the board.”
Fallo agreed with this assessment, and said that he “reports to five people,” referring to the board of trustees.
“He’s the person that has to run the campus. He not only does it for the Torrance campus, but he also does it for the Compton center as well,” Brown added.
A common misconception is that Fallo makes all decisions concerning the campus.
“He doesn’t make the policy, but he has to enforce the policy that the board sets,” Brown said.
As previously reported in the Union, the board of trustees recently voted to give Fallo a pay increase in order to encourage him to reconsider his decision to retire.
“He wanted to retire. He retired. We accepted that, “ Brown said.
Fallo was ready to try something new.
“ I wanted to change environments,” Fallo said.
Once the process to look for a new president began, the board realized they were going to be faced with a tough task and a very short time period to do it in.
“As we started the process of looking for a replacement CEO, we kind of saw the writing on the wall that this was a really daunting task, especially with the timeframe that we were working under,” Brown said.
The value in keeping Fallo on for a few more years is proven in the accomplishments he has made as EC president.
Under his leadership, the college has received two facility bonds that have helped to make improvements to the campus and open new buildings for students and faculty alike.
“Measure E is a huge deal. When you look at the bookstore being repaired, when you look at all the different infrastructure being repaired, that doesn’t come out of thin air. That doesn’t come from campus funds. His being able to go to the community and ask for money to help improve our campus is a big deal,” Brown said.
His achievements can be seen in the lack of furloughs and layoffs that other college campuses are experiencing. They can be witnessed in the number of successful graduates the college has had under his tenure.
“Just the alumni and the campus community in general, if you look at the students and the quality of the faculty, that is directly attributable to Dr Fallo,” Brown said.
In Brown’s opinion, the ultimate testament to the value of Tom Fallo is in his longevity with the college. Fallo has been with EC since 1991, and has been the president since 1995.
“His job is not an easy job. If it were, there would be a bunch of people willing and able to do it.” Brown said.
Fallo sums up his decision to stay simply.
“We still have work to do,” Fallo said.
