Board of Trustees begins search for permanent Superintendent-President

After former Superintendent-President Dr. Erika Endrijonas left PCC in July, following months of uncertainty over a possible contract extension; the Board of Trustees has started the process of finding a new permanent Superintendent, a proceeding that is expected to take at least six months and possibly up to an entire year.

In prior reporting by The Courier, there was clear divisions on the Board of Trustees over Endrijonas’s contract, and how that entire process was handled, but it is not expected to have an impact on this process, according to two people who were interviewed.

“I have not seen the division that you are talking about, nor do I think that the Board dynamics are gonna have a negative impact on the search,” Brice Harris, a consultant to the board from the Community College League of California said. “I think the Board is working together well. And my experience is that most boards come together and work very well during the search for a new Superintendent-President because that is one of the most important jobs they have.”

Board member Jim Osterling is not “agonizing” over the division because of the former Superintendent-President.

“What I can tell you is that we just went through a process to hire an interim Superintendent that went very smoothly in my opinion,” Osterling said.

In a presentation to the Board of Trustees in late May, Harris, emphasized the importance of “stable boards” and stable Superintendent-Presidents.

“Long term relationships between stable boards and stable CEO’s lead to very successful colleges over the long haul,” Harris said. “Revolving doors on the President/Superintendent and a lot of turnover and upheaval in the Board leads to not as successful colleges and Districts.”

The former Superintendent-President officially resigned on July 31 2023, leaving Interim Superintendent-President Jose Gomez to fill the position until the Board of Trustees completes the search and selects a permanent Superintendent-President.

The Board of Trustees is mandated by a number of guidelines set out under Board Bylaw 2431 on how the process should be conducted. It lays out a number of important steps, including the structure of committees, subcommittees, and a step by step process that the board must follow for the next several months.

The Board of Trustees officially began the process to search for the new president on August 23 2023 at their monthly board meeting by announcing and approving a bid to start receiving candidacy from firms to conduct and lead the board through the search process.

The Board has received seven different search firms proposals, which will officially be presented on Sept.16 at a special board meeting. It is likely that the board will make a decision on which firm will conduct the search at that meeting.

“We’re looking for the next CEO, chief executive officer, superintendent of a very important institution in our community, Pasadena City College,” Osterling said. “And we want to make sure that we conduct that process in such a way that we have participation and buy-in from all of our fair governance groups and the general public.”

The proceeding to elect a firm will be public at the upcoming board meetings for the next couple months. Once a firm is selected, the board will be hands-off and the search for a Superintendent-President will be contingent on the search firm’s direction in a closed-session format. This confidentiality will be to avoid competition and maintain respect for candidates that are currently employed at another institution, according to Osterling.

Three finalists will be selected and introduced to the public by the board once they review the firm’s recommendations.

The Board aims to secure the position by July 2024, but the process could be a month or two longer or shorter, according to Osterling.

This story has been updated for clarity.