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Six finalists – five women and one man, one of whom currently works in New Mexico – were selected from a pool of 54 applicants for the post of president of Santa Fe Community College.
Forums will be announced in which members of the public will be able to meet the candidates and ask them questions.
The finalists were chosen through a search led by co-chairs Carole Brito and Linda Siegle, who worked with a 19-member committee made up of faculty, staff, students, foundation members and others. The national search firm Gold Hill Associates also was hired to assist with fielding applications.
The finalists are:
♦ Pamela Anglin, C.P.A., Ed.D., president of Paris Junior College, Paris, Texas. “Community College Week” recognized Paris as one of the 50 fastest growing community colleges in the nation.
♦ Dorothy Duran, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs, Iowa Western Community College, Council Bluffs, Iowa. She has been there since 2006, previously serving as dean and also as dean and director of the El Rito Campus of Northern New Mexico College.
♦ Richard Eugene Durán, Ed.D., president of Oxnard College, Oxnard, Calif., where he has been since 2007. From 2004-07, he was president of Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz.
♦ Ana Guzman, Ed.D., president of Palo Alto College, San Antonio, Texas, a post she has held for the past 12 years. She also has served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education (2000-2001).
♦ Margie C. Huerta, Ph.D., president of Doña Ana Community College, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. She has presided over that NMSU branch since 2004 and previously was the college’s chief academic officer.
♦ Leslie Anne Navarro, Ph.D., president of Morton College, Cicero, Ill., where she was named interim president in 2006 and president in 2008. She was executive vice president of administration and academic affairs before that.
Candidates will make one-day visits to the campus, where they will meet with various groups on campus and take part in a public forum.
“We felt we had a large, highly qualified pool of applicants. We were pleased the college attracted such experienced, well skilled leaders in the field,” Siegle said in a news release.
In its application announcement, SFCC said it serves more than 14,000 students annually, including continuing education and adult basic education programs, with more than 75 associate degree and certificate programs.
That announcement also said, “The president of SFCC will be a proven educational leader… He or she will be expected to be a highly ethical individual who practices thoughtful, deliberate and inclusive decision making.”
The new president will replace Sheila Ortego, who is retiring Aug. 31.
For more information on the presidential search process, visit www.sfcc.edu/presidential_search.
