Tom Harris flunked retirement — and couldn’t be happier about it.

“Interims have been the high point of my career,” he said from his office at College of the Redwoods. “The appeal is the ability to make changes.”

Harris completes his interim presidency at CR today, marking the sixth short-term presidency he has filled in the last seven years. This one, however, may have been a bit more than he bargained for.

At the time he came on board at CR last July 1, the school was saddled with an accreditation sanction that would get worse 24 hours after his arrival — and that wasn’t the worst news. A deficit projected to run in the millions, declining enrollment and a dwindling reserve left Harris fearful that the state would assign a person to run the college.

Harris set about working with Ron Cox and Scott Thomason to develop a budget plan to keep Sacramento at bay.

“They liked it so much it may be a model to use for other colleges in dire financial straits,” Harris said.

In the meantime, he collected names, looking for those on campus most respected by their peers to guide an accreditation effort that in the prior 18 months had gone backwards. From a warning, CR had moved to probation.

“It’s very sobering to come to an institution where you know no one and build a team to address a problem and solve it,” Harris admitted.

But solve it he did. The school hopes to hear any day now that it is off probation. Enrollment is on the upswing, the budget is solidly in the black, administration has been streamlined and the campus makeover is on the fast track now that opponents have gotten desired concessions.

Harris and his wife, Sandy, are taking a year off. They haven’t had time to move into the home they designed and built in McCall, Idaho, which is a city they discovered 18 years ago when lift tickets were $12 and they were raising four sons.

“Problems aren’t rare in higher education,” Harris said of his hectic six years after “retirement.”

But good leadership can be hard to find. It was a failed search that led to Harris’ hire and the turnover in CEOs throughout the state has made the interim presidency an essential industry. After one year consulting on community college searches, he started on the interim presidential tour, stopping in Oxnard, San Bernardino, Shasta, Los Angeles Trade Tech and West Hills colleges.

“Tom came in here on day one speaking the truth,” said Keith Snow-Flamer, vice president of Student Services. “He said this is what he sees, here’s what the college has to do and if you don’t like it, that’s too bad. We mean too much to the community to fail.”

“He didn’t come in like a gunslinger: you, you and you gone,” said Tony Sartori, co-chairperson of the Academic Senate. “He came in and took stock: three months to feel his way through, to find the best way to approach issues. There were no finger-in-the-dike solutions. They were long lasting and had merit.”

“It’s been a huge turnaround,” CR board of trustees President George Truett said. “We owe a lot to him and his style of leadership, which is to find the right people and get out of their way.”

“An interim is someone who doesn’t owe anybody anything, isn’t beholden, hasn’t cut any deals and isn’t worried about holding the job for several years,” Harris said. “An interim can come in and do the right thing. It’s apolitical.”

“The biggest advantage is an interim isn’t hamstrung by the culture,” Snow-Flamer said. “He doesn’t have to worry about long-term land mines.”

Harris said that except in very rare circumstances, interim position holders should not be eligible for the permanent job.

“It will cut down on the number of applications and minority candidates will never apply,” he said. “Interims should be external candidates for a specified period of time. I would never recommend internal interim candidates for the top jobs — president or vice president.”

Harris and his wife put down no roots. His interim offices don’t contain personal items and his homes are rented as is or filled with rental furniture.

“I don’t want people thinking I’m angling for the permanent job,” he said. “If they think that will happen, they don’t go after the new president as they should.”

As for homes, Harris rents in Cutten, but still considers his favorite interim home to be his first. It opened onto the beach in Oxnard.

“I never dreamed I would live on the beach,” Harris said of the opportunity that arose after retiring from an “extraordinarily rewarding” 10-year stint as chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District.

As much as he loved the beach, Harris said, “We are going to miss it here. The arts in Eureka, Saturday mornings at the Arcata market, the friendliness of the people. There are so many activities, more than we expected, and the restaurants. We tried them all.”

Harris focused on fixing problems at CR, not in being the CR face at every North Coast event.

“Sometimes, people need a rest,” Harris said of the community. “They get tired of seeing someone new. They want to know there’s an end date and focus their energy on the new president.”

President-select Jeff Marsee meets with the trustees in closed session Monday and takes over Tuesday.