San Jose Evergreen Community College District Chancellor Rita Cepeda visited the Academic Senate on May 1 to discuss the hiring process of a president for the college and to gather input on what characteristics the Academic Senate would like to see in that individual.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to spend good solid time, do a national and through search to find the right individual and that takes time. We can\u2019t complete the search by the end of this September,\u201d Cepeda said.<\/p>\n
Many of the senators expressed a concern of permanency from the new hire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need someone who knows the area and wants to make their life in San Jose,\u201d Senator Leslie Rice, English as a Second Language Instructor said, \u201cwe have yet to find that person in the last two hires.\u201d<\/p>\n
A president who currently resides in California might serve the community best some senators said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone who would be coming from outside of California and isn\u2019t used to California Community colleges, the culture shock is difficult,\u201d said Senator Dan McElroy, computer information instructor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe homegrown factor is important. Someone who is a dean and promoted within is far less likely to move on\u201d Senator Phil Crawford, Administration of Justice faculty said. \u201cAs we give out one-year contracts it is risky (for a president) to come here. We may need to work with an individual to grow them into the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Cepeda agreed that permanency is important, she said, \u201cThe main point is quality and competency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other attendees expressed their various thoughts of the ideal presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to see someone who is visible and can develop a feeling of family. I don\u2019t see that here. There is currently a sort of a contention (on campus) thing,\u201d said Senator Joseph King, Library Coordinator. \u201cI would like someone who goes around visiting faculty and hears the faculty voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detrimental attributes of a of a college president were also expressed.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Marinaro, 25, journalism major said, \u201cI don\u2019t want an individual who is task-oriented, and after the job is accomplished, they feel they can move on.\u00a0 We are not looking for a problem solver but for someone who wants to be a part of and understands the community college.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chancellor\u2019s timeline is to fill the president position in one year from this fall semester, \u201cand then I want to see that we have someone on board by next (one year from now) fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cepeda acknowledged plans to use a search firm for finding candidates.<\/p>\n
Rice said, \u201cIt concerns me we are spending money to hire a search firm if we can do it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUse of an outside firm gives us access to well-qualified, high-caliber candidates currently serving in high positions who do not want anyone to know they are job shopping. Use of a search firm is the only way you can keep that confidentiality,\u201d Crawford said. \u00a0\u201cWithout a search firm, you would lose a lot of candidates who do not want their board to know they are looking for other job opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporting Cepeda\u2019s view that the college needs to do a national and thorough search, Vice Chancellor Kim Garcia said, \u201cusing a search firm is another way to go out with our message to get a good pool of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Future presidential informational meetings are as follows:<\/p>\n
May 10 – CSEA\/Classified<\/p>\n
May 17 – <\/sup>Faculty Association<\/p>\n May 21 – Managers and Supervisors<\/p>\n Interim President<\/b><\/p>\n Cepeda plans to fill the interim president position before President Barbara Kavalier leaves. She said she had received a large number of qualified candidates which will be whittled down to eight possibilities. After one-on-one interviews with the chancellor, this number of eight will be reduced to three finalists to present to the respective hiring committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe duties of the interim president are to maintain the college\u2019s current momentum,\u201d Cepeda said, \u201cand prepare ground for the new leader without instituting any major changes.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" San Jose Evergreen Community College District Chancellor Rita Cepeda visited the Academic Senate on May 1 to discuss the hiring process of a president for the college and to gather input on what characteristics the Academic Senate would like to see in that individual. \u201cWe need to spend good solid time, do a national and…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"staff_name":[581],"class_list":["post-8447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","staff_name-larry-harris"],"yoast_head":"\n