Still no vice chancellor decision

A decision has not been made for the vice chancellor for academic success, Dr. Thomas Cleary, vice chancellor of planning, performance and information systems, said Sept. 26.

“I would say it’s close, but it’s not quite here yet,” he said.

The committee recommended two finalists of 61 candidates and submitted their names unranked to Chancellor Bruce Leslie, Cleary said.

Dr. Stephanie Hawley, associate vice president of college access programs at Austin Community College, and Dr. Jimmie Bruce, vice president of academics at Northwest Vista College, are the two finalists.

The district held receptions at Killen center Sept. 6-7 for the public to meet them.

Cleary said feedback forms from groups of individuals the candidates met with are being compiled to send to Chancellor Bruce Leslie while more reference checking is conducted before a decision will be made.

He said candidates met with vice presidents, presidents and vice chancellors and representation from Faculty Senates, faculty chairs and the Unified Staff Council at all the colleges.

“There’s no concrete timeline on that. It’s a lot of material for Dr. Leslie to go through, and we have a search consultant from Gold Hill (Associates) and they’ll provide some additional references for us,” Cleary said.

At the May 23 regular board meeting, trustees approved a contract Gold Hill Associates, a community college executive search firm, to purchase executive search services for an estimated $25,000 per search to fill any key administrative positions.

The contract requires the contractor to recruit, screen, and assess applicants from a pool of 25 to 35 applicants, down to a group of six to 10 to be interviewed by hiring officials.

Cleary said the district was told by a search consultant that it would be more difficult to fill the vice chancellor for academic success position compared to the Palo Alto College presidency position.

Dr. Michael Flores, former interim vice president of academic affairs at Palo Alto, was named the South Side college’s sixth president at the Sept. 18 Alamo College’s regular board meeting.

“So we are not surprised by the duration of this search at all,” Cleary said.

The district has been searching for the vice chancellor for academic success since Dr. Robert Aguero retired in December.

The district advertised the position Nov. 18 -July 16.

Jo-Carol Fabianke, associate vice chancellor for academic success, is serving as interim vice chancellor for academic success.

Leslie will submit his recommendation to the Alamo Colleges board of trustees for approval.