Students join search advisory committee to help pick new president

Two Austin Community College students will play a key role in the selection of the college's new president/CEO ACC's board of trustees decided at a special meeting on Sept. 20.

A search advisory committee, composed of representatives from many areas of ACC's community, will be appointed by the ACC board of trustees. The student appointees, who will be nominated by the Student Government and the office of Student Life, will join select members of the faculty, as well as nominees from the public sector, in sifting through the nominees.

"The function of the advisory committee is going to be to eliminate a lot of nominations and potential candidates and get it down to a workable number," said Vice Chair Allen Kaplan, "but ultimately it's the Board's choice."

Though final decisions will be made by the board, its members are cautious in choosing those who would advise them in their decision. ACC's current President, Dr. Stephen Kinslow, advocates "trying to find appointees that have a deep knowledge of ACC, beyond a singular interest."

There was some debate within the board on the way the 25 person advisory committee should be structured, to ensure that it accurately represents ACC's far-reaching sphere of interest.

Board member Guadalupe Sosa expressed reticence with giving too much representation to districts not yet in the ACC taxing area and suggested including community outreach groups, such as Austin Interfaith and Capital IDEA.

Trustee Tim Mahoney agreed, warning that it would be "arrogant" of the board to predict turnouts of coming elections. He called instead for greater participation by employee organizations.

The original suggestion to include only six members of faculty and staff, as opposed to 17 during Kinslow's vetting, was off-putting to Mahoney, who told the Board "The thrust of this has me greatly concerned."

Board Secretary John-Michael Cortez acknowledged that the choice of a new president has a great many stakeholders, but said, "If we have a committee so large that it becomes unwieldy, I think that it would be a detriment to the quality of the search process."

Kaplan agreed calling the existing plan balanced and suggesting the board move on.

Ideally, the Board would like to have the members of the search committee in place by Oct. 14.

Once the advisory committee is appointed, both it and the Board of Trustees will begin immediate training with representatives from Gold Hill, the consulting firm hired to guide the process of selecting Dr. Kinslow's successor.

The trustees are in relative agreement in regards to qualities they are looking for in the school's new leader. The board pared down an inventory of suggested qualifications by the American Association of Community Colleges, a list that Board Chair, Dr. Barbara Mink, humorously dubbed "The Walk on water description."

Aside from an aptitude for governance and organization, and an interest in promoting diversity and social equity, the board seeks a candidate with a vision for the rapidly growing institution. Preferable would be an individual who has had success with an entity of similar size, and an understanding of the particulars of a high-growth environment.

The search will be a months-long process and will very likely be carried into the new year.

The Board does not take this task lightly, in the words of Secretary Cortez "When it comes down to the very end of it, we all share in the responsibility of making sure that we select the appropriate leader for this institution."  

Presidential Search Advisory Committee will include

• Board members Barbara Mink, Allen Kaplan, Jeffrey Richard, John-Michael Cortez

• 1 member of President's leadership team

• 2 full-time faculty

• 2 adjunct faculty

• 1 professional–technical employee

• 1 classified employee

• 2 student appointees

• 5 individuals selected from community-based annexation committees

• 5 appointees representing ACC service area

• 2 representatives from the public and higher education communities