Almost a year after the death of its chancellor, the Ventura County Community College District has finally narrowed its choices for his replacement to 10 candidates, each to be interviewed

next week, college officials said. Following initial interviews with a special selection committee on Tuesday and Friday, three to five of the candidates will face a second round of

interviews with the district’s board of trustees. The board will make the final decision. Interim Chancellor Jim Walker said the district may be able to announce its new leader as early as

November and that by Jan. 1, the candidate should be behind a desk at the district’s Ventura headquarters. Since Chancellor Thomas Lakin died from an infection in November, five top

leadership vacuum and that is what this district really needs to move forward.” None of the 10 candidates for the chancellor’s seat currently work in the district, although all have

chief-executive-level experience at a community college, said Jerry Pauley, district vice chancellor of human resources. While most of the finalists are still working within a community

college district, some now act as consultants to educational institutions, he said. About half are from California. The rest come from throughout the United States. Because some of the

candidates are well-known nationally and in the state, Pauley said, the district has promised to keep their identities confidential. “We are trying to protect our candidates so people will

feel free to apply to our district,” he said. The 23-member selection committee--composed of faculty members, administrators, students, non-teaching staff members and five community

representatives appointed by a trustee--was approved in February and began reviewing 55 resumes in early September. Of these, only one was from within the district and only two were from

women, according to sources close to the search. The original batch was narrowed to 26 candidates deemed qualified to fill the position. Using a point system, each member of the committee

individually graded these applicants. Those with the highest overall rankings were chosen for interviews. The final group includes one of the two women who applied, said a member of the

search committee. Jane Rozanski, an administrator at the Camarillo Health Care District who was appointed by Hirschberg, said committee members showed a surprising degree of consensus on the

top 10 candidates. “The process was extremely thorough, including representatives from all facets of the community college district,” she said. “There were no severe differences.” All

agreed, for instance, that the new chancellor should be fiscally responsible, innovative in terms of curriculum, and able to work well with both faculty members and administrators, said

Deborah Ventura, academic Senate president of Ventura College and a committee member. One key issue discussed was whether the new chancellor would fully support collaborative efforts in the

areas of instruction and organization with the long-planned Cal State University campus in Ventura County. In next week’s interviews, each candidate will be asked identical questions

developed by the selection committee, which expects to choose the remaining finalists the following week. On Tuesday, the trustees are expected to set dates for interviews with those

finalists. Though the process has taken more than 10 months, Hirschberg said the involvement of all interested parties ensures that the new chancellor will not meet resistance when he or she

joins the district. “At least we can be confident that whoever comes to the board for interviews will be a good fit,” he said. MORE TO READ