Schools

Bellevue College Presidential Search Could Extend into Next School Year

Bellevue College's trustees extended the duration of interim president to June 30, and according to its college paper, trustees told staff that the search could extend into the 2012-13 year.

Bellevue College's search for a college president to replace longtime president Jean Floten is unlikely to conclude soon.

when she named the Chancellor of Western Governors University Washington. 

Last month, the college extended the contract of interim president Laura Saunders. Saunders was originally hired to serve from July 18, 2011 to April 15, 2012. .

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And last week, Board of Trustees Chair Vicki Orrico told college staff members that the months-long search could extend into the 2012-13 school year, according to an account in The Watchdog about a meeting between trustees and college staff last week.

According to the account, the trustees may have to rewrite the president's job description or consider a different governance model.

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Orrico, the Monday after extending Saunders' contract, released a letter explaining the decision to continue to search for a Floten's replacement:

"We agreed beforehand that a candidate would need broad support from the board to be chosen. Unfortunately, while several candidates had strong support, no one candidate could garner broad enough support from the board," she wrote in the letter.

"A subcommittee of the board, consisting of Paul Chiles and me, the outgoing and incoming chairs, will be meeting over the course of the next several weeks to discuss the process for continuing.  We share the desire of the community to move ahead with finding a new president, but we want to make sure our decision is the best one possible for the college." 

The same day as Orrico's letter was released, Cheryl Roberts, the president of Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., announced in a press release that she had withdrawn her candidacy for the Bellevue position, saying that the extensive Bellevue search was interfering with her commitments at Chemeketa. According to the Salem Statesman-Journal, Roberts informed colleagues in March that she was one of the finalists for the Bellevue top job.

The college has been searching since September when it hired  to conduct the nationwide search. But Bellevue College spokesman David Sandler said that the board has not set a deadline for the naming of Floten's replacement.

The presidential search is one of the topics that will be discussed at the Board of Trustees meeting on May 16.


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