Feb. 4 – The Board of Trustees of Green River Community College met to discuss the preferred and most outstanding characteristics of which the college looks to find within candidates applying for the position of president. The college’s current president, Rich Rutkowski, will be retiring on July 30, 2010 after 26 years as a leader at the college.
Lesley Hogan and John Avery spoke on behalf of the Presidential Search Committee, a group of 15 GRCC faculty members appointed by the Board of Trustees. The meeting began with the two required qualifications of a future president. These include that he/she must have at least a master’s degree from an accredited institution, as well as senior-level administration experience.
The meeting continued with the presentation and discussion of 14 different credentials which, in Mrs. Hogan’s words, “a successful candidate would bring”. These began with the quality which the Committee unanimously believes is an absolute requirement: “an understanding of and a commitment to the mission of the comprehensive community college”.
The list continued with such traits as “the ability to inspire all members of an institution to achieve its mission and values”, to maintain “an understanding of international programs and their contributions and challenges”, to uphold the “knowledge of and commitment to the collective bargaining process [between faculty and staff]”and also to provide “evidence of effective leadership in establishing a positive institutional presence and image in the community”. Yet these were only a few of the characteristics the Committee hopes to find in a candidate.
Hyun Jung (Helen) Lee, the student-at-Large representative on the committee, mentioned that “not many students know what presidents do [for the college]”. However, the Presidential Search Committee wishes that students offer their input of what they hope to see in the future campus leader through the online questionnaire on the school’s website.
Mrs. Sherry Gates, a Board of Trustees member since 2003, concludes, stating that “we all want the same thing [in our upcoming president]”. Hopefully by May 2010, when the new president will be selected, Green River will find the applicant students and faculty all desire, but until then “the recruiting commences”.
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