CCSN awaits naming of new chief

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

In less than 10 days university regents expect to appoint a new president of the Community College of Southern Nevada. As the six finalists for the position tour campuses, there is an undercurrent of anticipation as the college staff waits to see if interim President Robert Silverman gets the final nod.

By Friday, after a round of interviews closed to the public, a 19-member search committee is expected to narrow the field from six to no more than three. A single finalist will be recommended to the full Board of Regents Oct. 6.

"We're watching. It's quiet," said Bill Jenkins, chairman of the Computers, Information and Technology Department at CCSN's Charleston campus.

Jenkins initiated a three-campus petition to revive Silverman's candidacy after the search committee cut him from the pool in early August.

Regents never formally accepted the petition, but it sat on the table when the committee voted Silverman back into the running Aug. 25 and it continues to gain signatures. At last count, Autumn Ita, site administrator at the A.D. Guy Educational Center, said she had 293 signatures from administrators, faculty and maintenance employees.

"It's a big deal," Ita said. "The Legislature meets starting in February, and I don't see a new person coming in and being able to deal."

Regent Dorothy Gallagher espoused a similar view as one reason to appoint Jane Nichols as chancellor of the university and community college system earlier this month. Nichols served as interim chancellor for four months before her appointment to the permanent position.

But not all faculty believe a smooth transition is in CCSN's best interest.

Before his appointment as interim president, Silverman served for more than four years as former President Richard Moore's right-hand man. That administration is the focus of ongoing investigations by both the university system and the state Attorney General. Allegations continue to surface of mismanagement of funding and school property, unfair hiring practices and improper bidding of construction projects.

"It would be best to let the regents take the normal course of events and hire the best possible candidate," said Dorothy Chase, an English professor at CCSN. "We don't have all the information they're privy to. We can make some guesses, but to say Dr. Silverman is the best candidate is impossible, because we don't have all the information."

Regent Howard Rosenberg said Tuesday that the board won't be influenced by lobbying on campuses, though he conceded that lobbying pressure by faculty was what led Regents to put Silverman back on the list of finalists.

"There's no percentage in worrying if someone's nose is out of joint," Rosenberg said. "There are six good, strong candidates. They will all be treated equally. The bottom line is simple. We all want to find the best candidate for CCSN."

Rosenberg, who cast the lone vote in against reviving Silverman's candidacy, said that at the time he was voting against second-guessing the decisions of two committees. Both the regents and an advisory committee composed of community college faculty had eliminated Silverman from the running.

"When you start second-guessing the process -- why have the committees in the first place?" Rosenberg said.

All but one of the five other finalists, including three women and two men, have served as president of community college systems with multiple campuses.

They are Robert Anderson, Jr., president of Northwest Community College in Rangely, Colo.; Deborah Floyd, former president of Prestonsburg Community College in central Kentucky and executive assistant to the chancellor for special projects at University of Kentucky; Shirley Reed, founding president of South Texas Community College in McAllen; Diana Sloane, vice chancellor of education and technology at Los Rios Community College in Sacramento; and Frank Vivelo, president of Wharton County Junior College in Wharton, Texas.

A seventh finalist, Stephen Head, executive vice chancellor of a community college in Texas, removed his name from the search in early September.

The community college, which enrolls about 35,000 students, initially attracted 61 candidates for the position in mid-April. The salary pays between $117,000 and $200,000.