CCSN choice two weeks away

Jennifer Knight

Monday, May 7, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

After a yearlong search, regents in about two weeks expect to choose a new Community College of Southern Nevada president from a field of 11 candidates.

A search committee is taking another stab at finding a leader for the 22,000-student community college after restarting a search a month ago.

Richard Moore served as CCSN president for four years before the university system's board of regents promoted him to lead the proposed state college at Henderson. Interim CCSN President Robert Silverman, who took over for Moore, recently left to become president of a community college in Oregon.

The committee had chosen four semifinalists, but a final decision was delayed as the Nevada Supreme Court ruled whether the interviews should be made public. The court found in favor of the university system, allowing interviews to be private, but the committee made an about-face and voted to hold interviews in public.

"We knew the constraints when we started," said Doug Seastrand, a regent who heads the search committee. "We knew this was going to be difficult, so I ask that you rise to the occasion."

The decision made it much more difficult to find a candidate, said search firm director Narcisa Polonio of the Association of Community College Trustees. The firm was hired in March to conduct the search at a cost of $27,000.

"I have to tell you recruiting for this institution was quite difficult, and this surprised me," Polonio said. "What has happened is the process has become a political process versus a process grounded in academic discussion, and some candidates didn't like that."

Candidates would be required to disclose personal information during the public interviews that most other states hold in confidence.

The committee's vote could be reversed at any time, although a bill introduced by Assemblyman Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas, may make that more permanent.

Assembly Bill 479 proposes to make the office of president a "public office," subject to open meeting laws with the exception of personnel actions. The bill is in committee.

The 11 candidates who agreed to be interviewed in public include Great Basin President Ron Remington, who has received kudos for his school's new bachelor's degree programs.

Three of the four original finalists have also reapplied. They are Robert Anderson of Colorado Northwestern Community College, Shirley A. Reed of South Texas Community College and Diana Sloane of Los Rios Community College in California.

New candidates include Richard Carpenter of Calhoun Community College in Alabama; Marjorie Carson of Salt Lake Community College in Utah; Jack E. Daniels of Central College, Houston Community College System; Grace Sawyer Jones of the College of Eastern Utah; E. Timothy Lightfield of Horry-Georgetown Technical College in South Carolina; Debra L. McCurdy of Georgia Perimeter College; and Mary Spangler of Los Angeles City College.

The committee has given itself a Thursday deadline to complete preliminary background checks and will meet Friday to discuss which candidates to bring to Las Vegas.

Salary negotiations could prove problematic as well. Pay for college presidents in the Las Vegas area is far under market value when compared with other metropolitan areas, Poloma said.