PVCC presidential search
Candidates compete in final rounds

By Kyle Porter, March 2010
Web Team

Finalists in the search for Paradise Valley Community College’s new president will visit the campus and appear at open forums Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 24 and 25, to meet the community and answer questions as part of the selection process.

The four candidates are Paul Dale, Ph.D., current interim president, PVCC; Brad Bartel, Ph.D., president of Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colo.; Mark Robinson, Ph.D., vice chancellor of student development at City College of San Francisco, Calif.; and Penelope (Penny) Wills, Ph.D., president of Northeast Iowa Community College, Calmar, Iowa.

Maricopa County Community College District Chancellor Rufus Glasper, Ph.D.. and his executive council will interview each candidate on Friday, Feb. 26 following the campus visits and forums. Glasper is expected to announce the new president soon after his interviews, and he will present his selection to the MCCCD Governing Board for final approval. The new president’s term starts July 1, 2010.

A wealth of college administrative experience is shared by the final four candidates:

• Bartel has degrees in anthropology and has served as faculty and dean developing research and graduate programs at several colleges in the country. He told the Puma Press he believes the administrator’s role is “all about the student,” and being, “nimble and flexible to be responsive,” to student needs.
• Dale, as the internal candidate, has 30 months experience as interim president and feels very involved in partnerships with the community around PVCC. He believes he has, “a strong grasp of current external strategic needs. Our needs are not unique but they are specific to this community,” Dale says.
• Robinson began his college studies at City College of San Francisco where he now serves as vice chancellor of student development for the 10-campus, 100,000 student school. He earned post-graduate degrees in England where he combined athletic pursuits with his studies. He told the Puma Press he is impressed by the mission, vision and core values of PVCC and says his style of high visibility in the community with his young family will be an asset to PVCC.
• Wills says she wasn’t looking for a new position, but when Cizek and Associates contacted her, she was impressed with PVCC. Walking around campus during her first visit, she was struck by the friendliness and energy at PVCC, “a very strong college, with much to be proud of,” Wills says.

Forums with each individual candidate are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. both days in Room KSC208 in the Kranitz Student Center. The complete schedule and biographies of each candidate are available at the PVCC Web site under the tab, “PVCC Presidential Search.”

The PVCC search committee is tri-chaired by Rick Vaughn, faculty senate president, mathematics; Jacalyn Askin, Ph.D., vice president, administrative services; and Patti Marsh, faculty senate president-elect, office automation systems. The 30-member committee convened at the start of the fall ’09 semester and developed questions in preparation for interviews with 10 candidates Feb. 3, 4 and 5.

Cizek and Associates, a search consulting firm, presented 15 candidates to the search committee from a pool of 82 applicants for the position.

MCCCD approved a budget of $30,000 for the PVCC presidential search, and Chancellor Rufus Glasper appointed search committee members.