Six finalists for college post called ‘stupendous’

Jeffrey Libby

Monday, Aug. 14, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

Six self-described risk-takers remain in contention for the president's job at the Community College of Southern Nevada.

"Out of 12 exceptional candidates, we got six stupendous candidates," Regent Douglas Seastrand, the chairman of the 19-member search committee, said.

The six out-of-state candidates will be flown to Las Vegas for interviews Sept. 18-29 at a cost of about $5,000. All but one of the three men and three women have served as president of community college systems with multiple campuses.

Shirley Reed

Shirley Reed, founding president of South Texas Community College in McAllen, Texas, the third-fastest growing region in the country, said she has increased enrollment at her school from 1,050 students to more than 10,000 in six years. Established in 1994 in temporary leased buildings, the college, with an annual operating budget of $48 million, now has six campuses in two counties.

By comparison, the Community College of Southern Nevada, founded in 1970, enrolls 35,000 students at three campuses with an annual operating budget of $62 million.

Reed said she has developed legislative coalitions that have helped boost annual state appropriations for the college from $2.5 million to $17 million. She said she also increased student financial aid from $1 million to $16 million annually. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities recently named the college the No. 1 two-year college in the country.

Reed calls the community college "an institution of opportunity" that tries to reflect the diversity of the community it serves.

Diana Sloane

Diana Sloane, who has yet to head a community college, has by far the most classroom experience of the six candidates.

Sloane, now serving as vice chancellor of education and technology at Los Rios Community College in Sacramento, taught for 14 years at Santa Barbara City College.

"Those years were very important to me," Sloane said. "They gave me firsthand experience of the students and added to my understanding of their needs."

Sloan has 16 years experience in senior administrative positions. She also has worked as a public health nurse and volunteered for the Peace Corps in Mysore, India.

Frank Vivelo

Brooklyn native Frank Vivelo, who served as a Russian linguist in the Air Force in the early 1960s, said he has completed his work as president of Wharton County Junior College in Wharton, Texas, and hopes to find a new challenge at CCSN.

During his six-year tenure at Wharton, Vivelo said, he was able to meet goals of increased enrollment, revenue, programs and salaries, capped off by a recent 15-month, $11.8 million fund-raising campaign. The student population, he said, has grown 15 percent during his presidency, from 3,900 to 4,500.

Robert Anderson Jr.

Though Robert Anderson Jr. likes to joke that he doesn't know what's inside a computer, he is a passionate advocate for the access technology affords students.

Anderson spent four years as second in command at Houston Community College, a 55,000-student urban institution. In 1995 he switched gears and became president of Northwest Community College in rural Rangely, Colo. There the challenge was to establish Internet access for the school's 3,800 students.

"(The college) has gone from a few antique computers and a couple of labs to something not necessarily state-of-the-art, but we're there in the sense of having a modern environment students can learn in," Anderson said.

Stephen Head

Stephen Head is executive vice chancellor of North Harris-Montgomery Community College a 39,000-student school in Houston.

Before taking that position last year, Head was president of Kingwood College in suburban Houston for eight years. He said his biggest accomplishment there was increasing enrollment by 40 percent, from 3,800 to 7,500 students.

Deborah Floyd

Deborah L. Floyd has spent the last year as executive assistant to the chancellor for special projects at the University of Kentucky. Before that she was president and chief executive officer of Prestonsburg Community College in central Kentucky.

Floyd said she has lobbied before Congress for education appropriations, campaigned for former Sen. Bill Bradley and served as a scholastic judge for Miss Teen Texas competitions.

At Prestonsburg, Floyd said she secured $27 million in state and federal funding for four new buildings. Floyd said she also obtained funding for new technology and distance-learning equipment, and she increased campus diversity and senior minority leadership.

"Change does not come easy for some people and can be quite uncomfortable," Floyd said. "I have extensive experience as a change agent who serves as a leader, motivator and creative agent of progress."