Bakersfield Life

Willy Duncan

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       It has taken 88 years, but Taft College, which now dubs itself California’s finest small college, can stake its claim on that reputation. The oil town’s junior college on the county’s dusty west side is in the midst of a transformation neither the school nor its tiny town has seen before. 
For decades, like an idle oil derrick, time and progress seemed to have stood still at the lackluster campus. That was until 1997, when a sharp cookie and recent graduate of Cal State Bakersfield’s business and finance programs joined the college. It would be a few more years before the vision of the superintendent/president, Willy Duncan, would begin to materialize, but today, the school enjoys a record enrollment, and its facelift includes a new amphitheater and administration/student services building. The library has gone high-tech, and a new quad is the epicenter of student life.
Many credit Duncan for the $110 million capital projects makeover of the "new" Taft College, which began with the 2004 passage of a local bond measure providing the school with the seed money for the renaissance to modernize the campus. Duncan’s forward-thinking approach in looking outwardly to obtain grants and alternative sources of funding has allowed the school to broaden its appeal. “Public institutions can’t just look to taxpayers anymore,” he said. “We have become very entrepreneurial in what we have managed to do, and you accomplish that by empowering your people to think outside of the box.”   
His style has brought praise from those who work with him, including the college's foundation and development director, Sheri Horn Bunk. “Willy Duncan is a young entrepreneurial academician who is building a group of the best at what they do to create the ‘new’ Taft College,” she said.
The 43-year-old, who’s a native of Bakersfield and graduate of North High, never planned on serving as president of a community college. He’d set his sights on a career in finance. But two years after finishing his graduate work, he joined Taft as dean of business services. In 2001, he was named vice president of administrative services, and six years later, as executive vice president of the college. After serving as interim superintendent/president, he was officially named to the post in the spring of 2008.
There is wide consensus that Duncan has brought not only a sensible business model approach to the management of the school, but a youthful spirit and passion for its programs and future viability as well. Among the endeavors of which he is most proud (and which has garnered national acclaim and the attention of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and international educators) is the Transition To Independent Living Program. Now in its 15th year, the program is a unique educational experience that helps developmentally disabled young adults segue into society. 
Thanks to a $5 million grant last year, the school’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program provides K-12 outreach for underserved Hispanics on the west side. Another boom for the college has been the increase in impacted California schools, including Bakersfield College. “This was our biggest year yet. We had 2,800 full-time equivalent students, or a 4,000 head count,” Duncan said, adding that enrollment has more than doubled in nearly seven years.
Under his leadership, Taft College has taken advantage of its size to maximize its ability to provide direct support to its students. “Willy creates an environment of trust so when you work for him you are comfortable to speak up and solve problems quickly,” Bunk added. 
As vice president, Duncan worked with trustees and other leaders to develop a conservative approach to the oversight of the college by building a rainy day fund. It has served the institution well in recent years. “Today that is the reason we have not suffered the layoffs other schools have because we used our reserves to hold the line,” he said. “Our biggest asset is people, that human capital. The worst thing we could do would be to let people go.” 
This fall when the city of Taft celebrates its centennial, and its community college likely welcomes another record enrollment and expands more programs, the man credited with infusing the institution with energy and vitality will still be touting his college. “I love education and being around students. It keeps me young,” Duncan added. “You come home at the end of the day and feel like you have done some good and are doing something positive for someone and the community.”