Commending Broward College on an open presidential search process
As a member of the Broward College President Search Committee, I would like to share the comments I made to the Board of Trustees and audience at the end of the interviews with the final candidates for the position of president of Broward College on Wednesday, May 2.
From the outset, both the Board and senior leadership made it clear that the process would be open and transparent. They took the necessary steps to ensure the procedure took into account the opinions and concerns of internal and external stakeholders.
An exemplary pool of applicants was screened at different stages of the process. First, by AGB Search, the firm contracted to assist the college in its recruitment, and then, by the Search Committee which comprised faculty, administrators, staff and community partners. The list can be viewed on the college’s presidential search website (bcpresidentsearch.com) which was launched to facilitate engagement and ensure transparency.
Some of the applicants were active in several college presidential searches across the country. I believe there were 15 searches happening simultaneously. During the process, some who expressed interest in the position received offers from other institutions. In other cases, changes to personal life circumstances led to the withdrawal of interest. This is not unusual for searches at any level.
In the end, we had three outstanding finalists who were interviewed publicly by the Board. I would like to encourage those who did not have a chance to attend, to view the interviews on the website.
As president of the Broward College Faculty Senate and United Faculty of Florida, Broward Chapter, I am fully confident in the transparency of the search process. I believe that from the three finalists, we will be selecting the best person to be the seventh president of Broward College. Thanks to the Broward College Board of Trustees, community partners, faculty, staff and everyone who took the time to participate in the process. We look forward to the announcement of the president who will lead us to the next level.