Gaston College’s 7th president on the job

Gaston College’s seventh president began his tenure Monday by meeting students and teachers and touring the college’s three campuses.

A North Carolina native to his core, Hauser (pronounced who-zer) grew up in Mount Airy and graduated from Surry Community College. An instructor of Hauser’s recognized his mechanical engineering talents and encouraged Hauser to transfer to UNC Charlotte.

“I was like any other student who comes in and didn’t know the direction I was going,” he said.

Hauser worked for several companies as an industrial engineer and machine designer when the instructor at Surry Community College asked Hauser to teach drafting and design at night.

Teaching never crossed his mind, nor the thought of eventually becoming president of a community college, but teaching quickly became infectious, he said.

“I loved it. I got hooked. The ability to share and help people better themselves,” he said. “From that point forward, my goal was to get into the community college system [and] to give back what was given to me.”

Since then, Hauser’s assumed various leadership roles at community colleges across the state and obtained a master’s in training and development from North Carolina State University, as well as a doctorate in educational leadership from Appalachian State University.

For the last three years, he’s headed Carteret Community College in Morehead City. Before that, he spent 20 years at Wilkes Community College and worked his way up to vice president of applied career technologies and Alleghany Center.

Acknowledging Patricia Skinner’s longtime dedication to Gaston College, Hauser said his experience will further advance Gaston College’s excellence.

Hauser’s goal has remained the same through his 30 years in leadership.

“My No. 1 thing is, can I help one person every day,” he said.

Gaston College brought Hauser aboard just as North Carolina residents began testing positive for COVID-19. Community colleges across the state closed campuses and moved instruction online for the rest of the semester.

Gaston College remains closed to the public and is continuing some face-to-face classes deemed essential. Hauser had already experienced a similar situation in 2018, when Hurricane Florence devastated Morehead City.

More than 50 percent of Carteret Community College’s students and staff lost their homes during Hurricane Florence, according to Hauser.

“I can’t describe how that feels, so we opened our hearts, prayed a lot, and we just demonstrated an extreme amount of care,” he said.

Carteret Community College was closed for three weeks, followed by a gradual reopening to students and faculty, who Hauser said were eager to get back to work. Hauser believes as Gaston College returns to face-to-face learning, it’ll be a similar to his experience in Morehead City.

“We’re in that process now,” he said. “We want to bring as much as we can back in August.”

Hauser and his wife, Robin, completed their move to Eagle Park in Belmont before shutdowns overwhelmed the state.

Gaston County was also perfect fit for Hauser, he said, as his son, Carter, is just a 45-minute drive away to Catawba College, his daughter, Logan, lives in Greensboro and works there as a textile designer and other family members dwell in Mount Holly, Concord and Matthews.

Plus, Hauser, an avid gamesman, can hunt deer in Gaston County, and North Carolina’s best streams for trout fishing aren’t too far either.

You can reach Gavin Stewart at 704-869-1819 or on Twitter @GavinGazette.