The Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees is on a fast track to replace Chancellor Daniel LaVista with the help of a new committee proposed in a resolution Wednesday, May 1.
The committee will serve as a candidate clearinghouse of prospects brought in from the national search firm contracted by the board, trustee Scott J. Svonkin said.
“The search firm does the publicity to the possible pool of applicants, “ Svonkin said, then “working with our human resources they screen the applicants to make sure they meet our basic qualifications. All of those applicants that qualify will be given to the committee. The committee evaluates them and then sends their recommendations to the Board of Trustees.”
The 11 member ad hoc committee in the amended Resolution BT6, Active Chancellor Search, consists of the following members:
• Student Affairs Committee representative,
• District Academic Senate representative,
• LA College Faculty Guild Local 1521 representative,
• AFT College Staff Guild Local 1521A representative,
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU),
• Teamster’s Academic Administrators’ bargaining unit,
• unrepresented college and Educational Services Center administrators and
• two community members (selected by the LACCD Board of Trustees)
“From a day to day operations the Board of Trustees works closest with the Chancellor,“ Svonkin said. “The committee screens – the Board of Trustees is the final say.”
The search firm recommended that one or two board members participate in the committee but that is not the norm in this district, Svonkin said.
Board of Trustees President Steve Veres and trustees Mona Field and Kelly Candaele sought clarity in the role of board president within the committee, they said during their prolonged discussion.
The problem is trying to find the right mix of committee participation while maintaining the voice of the board, Veres said.
A sticking point was member No. 1 “Board President” and whether or not the board president was mandated to attend every meeting and interview conducted by the new committee and whether he would have a double vote on a candidate given his double role.
“I would like us to amend this formally,” Field said.
The “Board President” as a member of the committee and the language of “moderator” as the role of board president was removed from the resolution and passed by a unanimous role call vote, except for trustee Park who was absent.
“We have a really aggressive goal of trying to have a new Chancellor on at the beginning of the academic year, “ Veres said. “We’re doing focus groups at each of the campuses, from Pierce to Mission to Valley to all across the district, people will have a chance to give input on what they feel what they want to see in a new Chancellor.”
The board will meet again on May 15 to further define the selection of the committee chair.
More information about the Board of Trustees can be found on the LACCD website, http://laccd.edu/Board/Pages/default.aspx.