Search is on for PVCC president
By Kyle A. Porter, November 2009
Editor-in-chief
A search committee for a PVCC president was convened by the Maricopa County College District Chancellor Rufus Glasper at the start of this semester and is comprised of campus faculty and administrators, employee policy group representatives, students and members of the community.
Three chairpersons head the committee: Rick Vaughn, faculty senate president, mathematics; Jacalyn Askin, Ph.D., vice president, administrative services; and Patti Marsh, faculty senate president-elect, office automation systems. The balance of the 30-member search team includes 11 other faculty members who are representatives of each educational department and six administrators, two students from the Student Leadership Council, four employee policy group representatives and four leaders from the community.
A search consultant, Cizek and Associates, based in Phoenix, augments the process by recruiting well-suited candidates and pre-screening all applicants who will be presented to the search committee, says Vaughn.
Donna Schober, executive assistant to the chancellor, is search liaison, facilitating communication between the committee and Glasper.
In late August the committee drafted the position profile which describes the focus and character of PVCC and the Maricopa County Community College District as well as the required and desired qualifications for a candidate, Vaughn says. The profile and all available search related information is linked from a tab at the top of the PVCC homepage.
“We want a person who believes in our core values of student learning, shared governance and who will provide leadership,” says Vaughn.
Marsh concurs that the campus is known for participatory management and that, “a collaborative decision-maker with a student focus,” is the quest of the committee.
Committee members signed a confidentiality agreement and cannot discuss the initial candidates or interviews outside their membership. Yolie Ochoa, student leadership chairperson, is a student selected to serve on the committee. She believes student representatives have an important perspective in the search.
“I hope for a president who leads by good example,” Ochoa says.
Interview questions were the agenda of the committee’s second meeting, Oct. 15. After the Nov. 20 application deadline, the committee will review the details of each applicant and the recommendations of the search consultant. The committee hopes to have 15 candidates to consider, says Vaughn. Then eight-to-10 semi-finalists will be invited to interviews with the entire committee Feb. 3, 4 and 5.
The committee will select 3 to 5 finalists to present to the chancellor and Feb. 24, 25 and 26 he will conduct interviews with his executive council as well as host town-hall forums on campus to introduce the propective-presidents. Glasper will recommend his selection to the Board soon after the final interviews. July 1, 2010 is the start date for the new president.
Applicants are not revealed to the public until the final chancellor’s interviews. Marti Cizek of Cizek and Associates says this confidentiality is necessary to attract the greatest range of candidates. Her company has conducted presidential searches for other MCCCD colleges and, with her higher-education specialty practice, has performed searches for colleges and universities across the country.
The cost of the search consultant is under $30,000 according to Schober. This expense was kept lower than usual by engaging Cizek only through the interim point to provide recruits and screen applicants for the committee.
PVCC has had an interim president, Paul Dale, Ph.D., for over a year following the retirement of Dr. Mary Kay Kickels in July, 2008. Dale is an applicant for the president’s job at PVCC.
The chancellor has the discretion to appoint or conduct various levels of search to fill a president’s position. Glasper visited PVCC last spring to hear the wishes of faculty and other interested parties.
“At one point we discussed having a modified search in an effort to save time and money,” says Glasper. “We decided against that because we felt a full search was more appropriate,”
Transparency is the key in the process of selecting a president, says Glasper, an expression echoed by Vaughn and Marsh.
This process merits the best effort, says Marsh. “We want the very best president.”
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