"I don't think students realize how powerful they are, and I want them to realize that," Garcia said.
Firm to search for Del Mar chief
Process of finding interim president could cost $34,000
By Israel Saenz Caller-Times
April 18, 2007
Del Mar College officials will have some extra help - and time - to find an interim college president.
Regents voted Tuesday to appoint a search firm to assist in selecting an interim president and extended departing leader Carlos A. Garcia's contract by two months to give search committee members more time to name a temporary leader.
The college will pay the Registry for College and University Presidents as much as $34,000 if a candidate is selected from its registry and serves a year. That amount is based on the average benefits package offered to presidents.
"The firm specializes in finding interim presidents and keep an active registry of over 100 candidates," said Trey McCampbell, presidential search committee co-chair. "The key thing is they will work with us in getting input on what we want in terms of an interim president."
Garcia, the college's president since June 2004, announced in February he would leave the college when his contract expires May 31. He now will leave July 31. McCampbell said regents have not decided whether to use a search firm for the permanent presidential search, which he said would begin once the interim leader takes office.
McCampbell said an interim president could serve about a year and would not be eligible for the permanent position. The college hopes to find a candidate with strong administrative experience at the collegiate level.
The college's last interim president, Vice President of Business and Finance Joe Alaniz, served as interim president 11 months before Garcia was selected.
The college did not hire a search firm to select Alaniz. McCampbell said regents decided to hire a firm for this search because the company has a pool of experienced candidates. Regents also did not want a current employee doing two jobs at once. While serving as interim president, Alaniz also held his position as vice president of business and finance.
"More and more colleges across the country are using firms," McCampbell said, adding that local candidates should apply through the search firm. "We want someone experienced."
The search firm fees will be paid, McCampbell said, at the annual rate of benefit expenses for a president, about $34,000 a year. He said the firm likely will be employed two to three months.
The Association of Governing Boards reports between 400 to 500 college and university presidents are hired each year, with about half of those involving the use of search firms.
The Registry for College and University Presidents contracts with more than 150 former college and university presidents and senior administrators in 41 states, according to the company's Web site. The site also states its database members, selected through a pre-screening process, have a collective 700-plus years in college and university presidential experience.
Garcia said he will use the extra two months to continue work with regents on completion of the $108 million capital bond program's building projects.
"That's probably the most pressing issue right now," he said. "I think we've done an effective job, but we're not finished."
Contact Israel Saenz at 886-3767 or HYPERLINK mailto:saenzi@caller.com saenzi@caller.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
life of the community - and in the lives of those who constitute its student body. For some.....like teresa cox et al are dreaming night terrors
Sums spent on Del Mar searches were reasonable
In an ideal world, we might be spared such outlays, but if the money helps secure effective leadership, it is well spent indeed.
April 16, 2007
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Caller-Times, officials at Del Mar College released records indicating that the school spent some $71,000 to conduct the searches that resulted in the hiring of the institution's last two presidents.
Carlos A. Garcia, who recently announced his resignation, was named to the top job in 2004. His immediate predecessor, Gustavo Valadez Ortiz, served in the post from 2002 to 2003. The process that resulted in Ortiz's hiring, which included the use of a search firm, cost approximately $37,500; the next search - in which Garcia was chosen - cost approximately $33,800. Expenses included advertising, legal counsel, and catering.
It was important for these figures to be released: Taxpayers, students and other individuals and entities in the college district provided the funds. However, before the usual suspects send up a cry of dismay at these expenditures, it's crucial to put the figures into perspective.
First, it bears noting that the president of Del Mar deals with formidable responsibilities and faces daunting challenges. Filling a role similar to that of a chief executive officer in private business, the president administers an $80 million budget that supports three campuses - the East Campus, primarily for academic programs; the West Campus, with newly expanded vocational facilities, and the new Center for Economic Development on Staples - serving 12,000 students.
And that doesn't even begin to cover the vast array of secondary functions facing the president, from labor relations to faculty issues to student needs to such perennial headaches as parking and - inevitably - the occasional academic turf battles.
Most important, however, is the president's paramount mission: to preserve and, where appropriate, expand the immensely important and constructive role Del Mar plays in the life of the community - and in the lives of those who constitute its student body. For some, Del Mar is a launching pad for young scholars who will in time find their way into universities and ultimately stake out careers in the professions, in business, or back on the campus. For others, it offers entree to vocational training that translates into good jobs - and spurs economic growth in the community. And for more than a few, it makes available all manner of life-enhancing options: exercise, swimming, golf and so on.
Del Mar plays a huge role in the life of this community. In that context, the sums expended in efforts to secure the best possible leadership for the institution seem eminently reasonable. Trying to go it on the cheap, or resorting to some good-ol'-boy network for contenders, would be the worst kind of false economy.
In an ideal world, we might be spared such outlays, but if the money helps secure effective leadership, it is well spent indeed.
April 16, 2007
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Caller-Times, officials at Del Mar College released records indicating that the school spent some $71,000 to conduct the searches that resulted in the hiring of the institution's last two presidents.
Carlos A. Garcia, who recently announced his resignation, was named to the top job in 2004. His immediate predecessor, Gustavo Valadez Ortiz, served in the post from 2002 to 2003. The process that resulted in Ortiz's hiring, which included the use of a search firm, cost approximately $37,500; the next search - in which Garcia was chosen - cost approximately $33,800. Expenses included advertising, legal counsel, and catering.
It was important for these figures to be released: Taxpayers, students and other individuals and entities in the college district provided the funds. However, before the usual suspects send up a cry of dismay at these expenditures, it's crucial to put the figures into perspective.
First, it bears noting that the president of Del Mar deals with formidable responsibilities and faces daunting challenges. Filling a role similar to that of a chief executive officer in private business, the president administers an $80 million budget that supports three campuses - the East Campus, primarily for academic programs; the West Campus, with newly expanded vocational facilities, and the new Center for Economic Development on Staples - serving 12,000 students.
And that doesn't even begin to cover the vast array of secondary functions facing the president, from labor relations to faculty issues to student needs to such perennial headaches as parking and - inevitably - the occasional academic turf battles.
Most important, however, is the president's paramount mission: to preserve and, where appropriate, expand the immensely important and constructive role Del Mar plays in the life of the community - and in the lives of those who constitute its student body. For some, Del Mar is a launching pad for young scholars who will in time find their way into universities and ultimately stake out careers in the professions, in business, or back on the campus. For others, it offers entree to vocational training that translates into good jobs - and spurs economic growth in the community. And for more than a few, it makes available all manner of life-enhancing options: exercise, swimming, golf and so on.
Del Mar plays a huge role in the life of this community. In that context, the sums expended in efforts to secure the best possible leadership for the institution seem eminently reasonable. Trying to go it on the cheap, or resorting to some good-ol'-boy network for contenders, would be the worst kind of false economy.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)