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Search committee begins interviewing candidates for MCCC president

The semi-finalist race has begun, and it is now a matter of who will make it to the finalist’s finish line.

MCCC Presidential Search Committee held a special meeting on April 29 that involved interviewing six of the eight semi-finalist candidates for president of the college.

John Steinecke, board services specialist for ACCT, introduced the procedures the search committee should follow during the interview process. ACCT is the consulting firm hired by the college to help with the search.

Steinecke said search committee members will have the opportunity to recommend at least five finalist candidates to the Board of Trustees.

The interviews were held via Skype video conference and also were videorecorded.

“It’s a good way of understanding how these people communicate,” Steinecke said about video conferencing interviews.

Candidates were asked 16 questions and the answers were timed – approximately 2-3 minutes.

“Try to enjoy the day. Try to enjoy the people. You’re going to see a lot of people with different perspectives,” Steinecke said.

Candidates who were interviewed on the first day included: John Satkowski, J.D., Carlee Drummer, Ph.D., Karen Hays, Ph.D., Utpal Goswami, Ph.D,. Renay Scott, Ph.D. and Kojo Quartey, Ph.D.

The two remaining interviews: Suzanne Wetzel M.A. of MCCC and Amy DeSonia, Ph.d, will be conducted April 30.

Once the interviews are completed, the search committee will make its selection of finalists on a tally sheet.

“Everyone will see composite scores of the group,” Board Vice-Chairman and Search Committee Chairman Bill Braunlich said about the process.

Selections will be displayed on a board for the search committee to see the group’s tabulation. Braunlich said, for example, if all 16 members of the search committee voted on the same finalist, that procedure won’t be necessary.

“At this point, we have not defined how many finalists there will be,” he said.

The official selection of the finalists will be announced at 5 p.m. on April 30.

Braunlich was positive about the first day’s interviews.

“I thought it went really well,” he said after the meeting.

Braunlich also commended the Board of Trustees and the Search Committee’s cooperation.

“They’re fully engaged in the process. This board wants to see, wants to know, wants to be in this position,” he said.