Silverman approved as interim CCSN president

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The No. 2 man at the Community College of Southern Nevada now is No. 1 -- at least temporarily.

The Board of Regents today selected Robert "Bob" Silverman, CCSN vice president of academic affairs since 1995, to replace outgoing President Richard Moore, who on Saturday becomes president of the yet-to-be-built state college in Henderson.

Silverman will serve on an interim basis for six to eight months while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent president. His salary will be about $140,000 a year while serving as acting president. That's up from his current salary of $126,000.

Silverman said this morning that he will be a candidate for the permanent position.

The regents approved Silverman with a 8-1 vote with twoabsentees. In casting the no vote, Regent Mark Alden said he did not think the interim candidate should also be a candidate for the permanent job.

In a statement to the board during the second of a two-day meeting this morning at CCSN's Henderson campus, Silverman said he hopes to continue the work Moore began to create an "environment of learning." He said he wants to expand the college in the areas of biotechnology, basic science and vocational programs.

Regents Chairwoman Jill Derby said Silverman's reputation was instrumental in the choice.

"He is highly thought of on the campus and in the community," Derby said. "There was a tremendous consensus for Silverman to take on the leadership."

Derby, vice chairwoman Thalia Dondero and acting Chancellor Tom Anderes spent two days on CCSN's Henderson campus talking to people and groups in 15-minute intervals. Derby said there were representatives from the faculty, administration, students, the foundation and the community.

"The consensus (from the on-campus interviews) was overwhelming for Bob Silverman to assume the interim role," Anderes said today.

Others who had been mentioned as possible candidates were Al Ruter, vice president of finance and administration, and Candace Kant, chairwoman of the faculty senate at CCSN.

Derby said a committee of the regents will be named to conduct a national search for a permanent president. And a college advisory committee will be established with a voice in the selection.

Moore, who spent 20 years as president of Santa Monica College before coming to CCSN in 1995, praised Silverman, his former professor and dean at Santa Monica College.

"We have had a marvelous team, and now Bob will provide that senior leadership," Moore said.

Silverman, who was named the University and Community College System of Nevada Outstanding Administrator of 1998, has served as chairman of that organization's Workforce Development Council and is past president and treasurer of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

Silverman has experience dating back to 1974 when he began a 10-year stint as professor of anatomy, physiology and biology at Santa Monica College.

During his five years at CCSN, the student population has grown 55 percent. His prior duties included supervising instruction, student services and daily college operations.

Silverman has been credited with developing joint educational ventures that have placed high-tech centers at high schools.

He also has a record of supporting multicultural diversity and expanding technology.

Silverman says that he has hired 200 full-time faculty members and that at least 45 percent of them have been from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Silverman is credited with developing computer facilities on campus and at other sites. He also has applied the concepts of the virtual library and the Internet to classroom instruction.

Silverman earned a master's degree from UCLA in 1973 and then a doctorate's in 1994. His bachelor's degree is from the University of Louisville, where he graduated in 1970.

Silverman has authored more than a dozen papers on education, including "Athletics at the Community College of Southern Nevada," which was presented to the Board of Regents in September 1998.

After serving as a professor at Santa Monica College, Silverman spent six years as a dean at the school.

In June 1990 he returned to Cerritos College to serve as vice president of instructional services for three years. In 1993 Silverman became executive director of the National Center for the Development of Education where he formed partnerships between U.S. colleges and Eastern European institutions.

After that, Silverman was interim library director at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, Calif., for two years before accepting the Southern Nevada post.

Sun reporter Cy Ryan contributed to this story.