Three women were named finalists for the job of president of Oakton Community College, though one recently removed herself from consideration.
More Top Picks Best Usb C Cables
One of the finalists is an administrator at OCC and the other two are from Florida and downstate Illinois.
The candidates, who were selected by a 15-member presidential search committee for interviews with OCC’s board of trustees, will also meet with faculty, students, administrators and members of the public during visits to the college scheduled for later this month. The board is expected to choose the institution’s fourth president in early March.
Edythe Abdullah, special advisor to the president at the University of North Florida, Joianne L. Smith, vice president for student affairs at OCC, and Kristine M. Young, vice president for academic services and chief academic officer at Parkland College in Champaign, were selected after a months-long, nationwide search process that attracted 30 to 40 applicants. In a release to the media on Monday, though Oakton officials announced that Abdullah had withdrawn.
Current president Margaret B. Lee has led the college — which serves 450,000 residents in 16 municipalities — for 20 years, following 10 years as vice president. She will retire in June.
Bill Stafford, president of OCC’s board of trustees, said the search committee did not set out to replace a long-serving female president with another woman, and that a “good mix” of men and women applied for the position. The three finalists were simply the best for the job, he added.
Last year, a series of surveys and meetings were conducted to gauge what the community wanted from its next leader. Respondents indicated they wanted an educational leader, someone who could work in a cooperative manner with all stakeholders and who could also address key issues like graduation rates and the need to stay abreast of technological advancements in various industries, he said.
“If it was a man following a man, then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said. “I think it’s a natural thing. (Lee) has done a wonderful job and I think the search committee had a wide open field and these are the three finalists and the committee thought they were the strongest ones we had.”
Young said she was interested in the job because of Oakton’s longstanding reputation for excellence. Smith said she was committed to continuing the college’s mission of transforming students’ lives.
All three woman said female leadership of educational institutions is growing, particularly in the community college sector.
“I think part of the community college mission is routed in social justice and equity issues,” she said. “We are institutions by our very nature that provide access to all individuals.”
The workplace environments at community colleges may make it an easier place for women to advance professionally, Young said.
“Community colleges are extraordinarily good at nurturing employees and recognizing their potential during professional development,” she said.
If anything, Abdullah said, the selection of women as final candidates simply indicate that “this institution and the other (educational) communities across the U.S. are respecting the abilities of women to lead large institutions and make a difference.”