Hartley was appointed to the presidency in August, and he's been adjusting to his role and new faces on the campus and throughout the community during various receptions held in his honor over the last month. He said it's helping him to learn the culture of the campus, its values and the community the college serves.

"There's a huge amount of energy and vision on this campus," Hartley said, later adding, "You certainly can't ignore that some tension has existed between the college and the city for the last several decades. We need to put that aside, and I believe we have."

Hartley was referring to a resolution recently reached between the city of Saratoga, the West Valley Homeowners Association and the West Valley­Mission Community College District board of trustees that avoids construction of an athletic stadium on the West Valley campus.

The next challenge Hartley and the college face is soliciting support from the community to repair and renovate the college's aging campus. Bond Measure H, which will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, seeks funding to bring the campus up to modern standards. The infrastructure and classrooms of the college are at a stage, Hartley said, where they no longer support the facilities and the curriculum.

"They were built to accommodate science and technology 30 years ago," Hartley said. "We strongly believe that if the community understands what the bond is for and how it will be used that the community will support it."

Hartley formerly served as the executive vice president and assistant superintendent of the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. He has moved to this area, but is still waiting for his wife, Donna, an elementary school teacher in Santa Clarita, to join him. The couple has been married 34 years and has one grown daughter.

Hartley's administrative assistant, Brenda Rogers, said her new boss has been a delight to work with, since he's been in the community college system for years and understands how it operates.

"I love the evolution that's happening now," Rogers said. "He's very community-minded and believes a community college should support the community."

Echoing Rogers, Dave Fishbaugh, the dean of learning resources, said Hartley's varied experience in California's community college system is readily evident.

"He has a fairly low-key personality," Fishbaugh said. "But I think it's going to allow him to integrate into our culture well here. The prize right now is a successful bond election, and I'm sure Phil recognizes how critically important that is right now."

Division chair of physical education and the women's volleyball coach Carol Knight said Hartley's selection was a unanimous consensus from a variety of groups on campus.

"He's just such a fit for West Valley. He's such a humanist," Knight said. "He's articulate. He's such a leader for our administration."