CHAPARRAL

Hiring a new president is the hot topic I plan to report on here. At the April meeting the Board of Trustees reviewed and then amended the proposal from the Campus Executive to create the Board of Trustees Advisory Hiring Committee. Included in the document were proposals for its composition and a list of tasks and procedures that the committee will need to complete as it identifies the 5 to 8 applicants who will then be interviewed by the Board.

Some parts of this document will look familiar to anyone who has served on a faculty hiring committee. A committee has to be created, a job announcement needs to be written and publicized, and a timetable for activities must be established. Members of the committee will be asked to attend all meetings, screen applications, and develop criteria for selecting the list to be interviewed. Committee deliberations will be confidential. I know. It sounds familiar. But this committee is not just another hiring committee.

Consider committee size for starters. The proposal as amended increased the membership of the committee from 17 to 22, including 7 faculty, 2 classified employees, 1 classified manager, 2 students, 5 community members, 2 members of the Board of Trustees, and 1 non-voting EEO representative who will chair the committee. The issue of Board representation on the committee and the number of community representatives was debated at the meeting. After careful consideration, these are the numbers they agreed upon.

At this time the selection of the Board members is on hold while they fill the seat vacated when Ara Najarian resigned to serve on the Glendale City Council. To the best of my knowledge, the Board will make the selection of the new board member at another special meeting on May 26. Then they will appoint the community representatives and Board members.

At this time I can only report on the faculty appointments to the committee. The Guild and Senate leadership selected the following faculty, in alphabetical order: Ramona Barrio-Sotillo, Michael Dulay, Phyllis Eckler, Elizabeth Fremgen, Ron Harlan, Peggy Renner and Jeanette Stirdivant. Included on this list are instructional and college services faculty, and credit, noncredit, fulltime and adjunct faculty.

Once the committee is selected, members will develop the timetable for the tasks that must follow. At the top of the list will be the selection of the hiring firm that will assist the committee in the hiring process. At this time five firms have applied.

Also among the tasks on the committee’s agenda will be the development of the description of our campus and the job description and announcement. I would like to thank the many of you who have already sent responses to the questions we asked of you last fall. If you have not yet responded, please let me know. I’ll be happy to forward the questions to you. The campus community can really answer the question Dr. Davitt asked us last fall at Institute, “What makes us special?” Just e-mail or phone me, and I will get the questions to you. We want to consider as many perspectives as we can.

We anticipate that the campus community will want to know more about the guidelines and procedures that will be used to announce the job and screen the applicants. How will the applicants be introduced to all of us? And I am sure that you have other questions. Please ask. The committee will need to address these and other questions along with selecting the hiring firm. And if you have heard of any interesting ideas from other campuses on how they have handled the hiring of a president, please let us know.

My last comment is to thank the faculty members who have already helped get this process rolling. Special thanks go to Jean Lecuyer and Steve Marsden, who served on presidential hiring committees in the past and were willing to offer advice for this one. Their experience has been invaluable. Thanks also to Mike Allen for his energy and help in guiding the discussion. &

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