Final three candidates chosen in the presidential search

November 9, 2018

|By Courier Staff

After last year’s failed presidential search, PCC has enlisted the help of different outside firms and a campus screening committee, selecting three final candidates for the school’s president in a new search.

A management consultant, PPL, Inc., and a Campus Screening Committee reviewed the candidates’ applications and took part in first-level interviews. The Board of Trustees (BOT) interviewed five candidates and narrowed down the search to three candidates for the position. As of now, PPL Inc. is still consulting with the college.

The last presidential search was conducted by the consulting firm Collaborative Brain Trust, but after an unsuccessful search led three finalists to dropping out of consideration, the BOT chose PPL Inc. in favor of Collaborative Brain Trust.

The three finalists chosen this year are set to hold open forums on campus to give students an opportunity to learn more about their individual experiences and qualifications later this month.

The forums are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 27, 28 and 29, in the Creveling Lounge at noon and 5:30 p.m. They will be available on Youtube as well.

Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Communications & Marketing, Alex Boekelheide, said in regards to the search, “The BOT expects to publicly name a successor to Rajen Vurdien at its December 12 business meeting.”

The mishandling of last year’s presidential search created a rift between the Academic Senate and the BOT, with the Academic Senate threatening a ‘no confidence vote’ if the BOT didn’t declare a failed search.

This came after the campus community expressed that the BOT did not give them an opportunity to voice their concerns about the search, the lone finalist Cliff Davis, and his experience.