Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 5-13-21 E-edition

Thursday, May 13, 2021
Search for new SCCCD chancellor begins
The View From Here
AsI sat down to attend the virtual town hall meeting on the af- ternoon of May 10, I
Juanita Adame
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
A series of virtual town hall meetings were held at various campuses throughout the State Center Community College District during the weeks of May 5 and May 10.
The virtual events were held in efforts to kick off the search for a new chancellor following the retirement of the current SCCCD chancel- lor, Dr. Paul Parnell.
“Welcome everybody,” said Magdalena Gomez, trustee for District 4 during the opening of the meeting.
Gomez represents Reed- ley College and said the goal of the board is to work along- side the community and gain feedback is to find the right person for the job.
She also talked about the completion of new buildings on the campus.
“Here at Reedley College were nearing completion of a new math and science building this year we will be- gin construction on the long awaited and I mean the long awaited center for finding performing arts,” she said.
“We want to build again upon this great work, what we have started, selecting the chancellor. It is vital to mak-
began to understand the complexities surrounding the search for a new chan- cellor.
It seems like such a mon- umental task, where does one begin? How does one find a pool of candidates and then carefully hand pick the best out of those candidates.
I realized that the search process and the questions I had about it were quickly answered by one of the con- sultants at a consulting firm called PPL.
PPL is a company that according to their website, specializes in finding “suc- cessful executives with a rich and successful history of service in the California Community Colleges.”
For those not familiar with the chancellors posi- tion throughout the State Center Community College District, the role is an im- portant one to say the least. In terms of educational sys- tems, the chancellor would be the CEO of the university or in this case the SCCCD.
So finding the right per- son for the job is critical. They are required to know, not just about each com- munity college campus, but the areas surrounding those campuses. For example, Fresno City College is lo- cated near downtown Fres- no, a campus that is busy and always on the go. That is a stark contrast to the Oakhurst Community Col- lege center. Same district, very different city types.
The board of trustees al- so talked about a communi- ty forum. They want to hear back from the members of the community.
Some things to consider, what are the five most im- portant professional and personal characteristics that the new SCCCD Chan- cellor should possess?
What do you believe they should have? What types of qualities, experience, educa- tion?
The community does have a chance to give their feedback. It's important for everyone to talk about what they are looking for in a chancellor.
For the rest of this week, community members can visit the SCCCD website and fill out the questionnaire.
Questions addressed will reflect what the community asa wholeislookingfor.
The board talked about having a pool of candidates with diverse backgrounds and experience to be able to choose the best one to lead and inspire SCCCD.
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Reedley College hosted an online town hall meeting on the afternoon of May 10 to discuss the search process for a new State Center Community College District chancellor. Trustees heard from consulting firm representatives and are encouraging community feedback.
ing that happen and we want you to be part of this process so again, thank you for all be- ing here.”
Board members also heard from two representatives of PPL Incorporated.
PPL is a consulting firm hired to search for and recruit potential chancellor candi- dates.
Ben Duran and Jim Riggs are both consultants with the firm and both spoke during the meeting.
“Jim [Riggs] and I are go- ing to be are going to be get-
ting out there and getting as many good applicants, as we possibly can,” said Duran “As I say, a very diverse pool a national pool of candidates, but when the time comes, we want to be sure that the search committee sees all of the applications of all of the individuals who are qualified.”
The consultants also went over a timeline of the search process and encouraged the public to give feedback on what they are hoping to have in their next chancellor.
"Our goal is to nationally recruit a really strong and diverse pool of candidates."
-Ben Duran PPL, Inc.
The questionnaire can be found on the SCCCD web- site under chancellor search, deadline for feedback is May 14.
A special event for Reedley moms at the senior center
Sanger High students among VROP firefighter graduates
Photo Courtesy / Fabrizio Lofaro, Valley ROP)
Several students, including some Sanger High students gradu- ated from the urban and rural firefighting class with the Valley Regional Occupational Program on the afternoon of May 6.
Photo of the week
Photo Contributed
Vicky Anderson sit and smiled for a photo during this year's Mother's Day tea on the afternoon of May 7.
Contributed
The City of Reedley's se- nior center hosted a Mother's Day tea party on the after- noon of May 7.
The event was held on the community center's senior patio and two groups of nine women participated in the event.
The first tea party was held at 10 a.m. and the second tea party was at 1 p.m.
Each participant had their own table set with a tea cup, saucer and dessert, and each mom was was given a rose as
they entered the patio.
"I placed the tables in a
large circle so the ladies could converse amongst each other," said Jodie Botello, the City of Reedley's Senior activities co- ordinator. "We also did this for proper social distancing."
Botello said jazz music played for the ladies while they shared memories about their mothers and their favor- ite mothers day memories.
"We played bingo," said Botello. "Participants won gift cards to local restaurants. It was a wonderful afternoon en- joyed by those who attended."
Contributed
Thisphotoof JayauniCampillo,4, atHillcrestFarmssmilingwhile on a swing set was sent in by Desseray Moreno. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing.com.