Paul Wickline, former associate vice president of instruction at College of the Canyons, has been appointed as the associate vice president of the college’s Canyon Country campus.

Wickline replaces Ryan Theule, who resigned from his position on Sept. 2 after 17 years of service.

“I am humbled and honored to take on the role of providing leadership of the Canyon Country Campus and working alongside the exceptional faculty, staff, and administrators who call this campus their home,” said Paul Wickline. “My goals include helping to continue the legacy of outstanding student-centered leadership of previous administrators providing oversight of this campus and the programs located here. I will strive to partner with students, staff and faculty to fulfill our President’s vision of creating an identity for this campus and fulfilling the promise of this location and the classes, programs, and services provided here, to help transform the lives of those on this side of the Valley.”

Wickline has provided leadership at COC in a variety of roles since arriving in 2008 as a newly hired tenure-track theatre faculty member, department chair and producer. Between 2008 and 2015, he directed or produced several theatrical productions each year and helped build partnerships with area high school theatre teachers, recruiting new students to the COC theatre program and working with faculty and staff to build a robust theatre program.

He taught several classes on the Canyon Country campus during this time.

“I loved the natural beauty of the campus, and the feeling of a smaller student community here,” Wickline said.

As a faculty member, he grew increasingly interested in higher education leadership, first serving as a learning outcomes and assessment coordinator and later as the Academic Senate Vice President and President. He was also appointed by the Academic Senate of California Community Colleges to a transfer taskforce which led to the develop the Interstate Passport Transfer Program for the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education.

When an academic dean position opened supporting the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2015, he took advantage of the opportunity to serve the college and community in a different capacity. In addition to helping lead and manage instructional operations for multiple academic programs, he also developed a successful partnership with the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center, now Bella Vida, to offer a year-long series of workshops for family caregivers.

Wickline also provided administrative leadership of the Child Development Center on both campuses and helped support the migration of services to the Valencia Campus after the Tick Fire destroyed the Child Development Center at Canyon Country campus.

In 2020, he became Associate Vice President of Instruction, leading the operational aspects of instruction and continuing his work in the implementation of guided pathways. In this role, he provided oversight over a breadth of academic programs, projects and instructional support services including development of a district-wide strategic enrollment management plan and the creation of a project to increase enrollments at the Canyon Country campus.

He also provided administrative support of student learning outcomes and assessment processes and was instrumental in the development and expansion of dual enrollment programs and public safety training and inmate education, helping grow the program from 500 students in 2019 to more than 2,000 students at multiple sites by 2021. His work also included leading and collaborating with student services and instructional faculty on the development and implementation of the student support program, Canyons Connects.

Wickline has served on multiple accreditation teams and provided service as a mentor for higher education administrators in the Association of California Community Colleges Association mentor program.

A proud former community college student, Wickline began his educational journey at Edmonds Community College in Washington state studying vocal music. A graduate of Western Washington University (B.Ed) and Central Washington University (M.Ed), Wickline is currently working toward a doctorate degree in higher education from Portland State University.

He has been married to his wife Karol Matson for nearly 30 years. In his spare time, he enjoys landscaping, listening to jazz music, reading literature and watching baseball and football.