Santa Fe Community College narrowed down its search for a new college president to six candidates out of a total of 54 applicants.---
The college's governing board has been evaluating candidates after current SFCC president Sheila Ortego announced her retirement last fall. Ortego, who became president in 2006, was honored as a top-performing CEO by New Mexico Business Weekly last October.
The finalists for Ortego's replacement are:
Margie Huerta, PhD, current president of Doña Ana Community College (part of New Mexico State University) in Las Cruces. DACC has recently undergone expansion and has added a law enforcement academy and emergency medical services training facility.
Ana "Cha" Guzman, Doctor of Education, current president of Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Tex. Guzman formerly served as senior advisor to US Secretary of Education from 2000-2001. In February, she sought to retire from her position at Palo Alto College early (her contract is up in August 2013) to take advantage of a retirement incentive program, but planned to stay on at the college in another position. The board overseeing Palo Alto College rejected that move because the incentive program stipulated that retirees refrain from working at the college for two years. Last year, President Barack Obama chose Guzman as a member of the National Security Education Board.
Pamela Anglin, CPA, Doctor of Education, current president of Paris Junior College in Paris, Tex. Last year the Texas Association of Businesses granted Paris Junior College its Excellence in Education award for medium-sized colleges. From 2007 to 2009, during Anglin's presidency, Paris Junior College had a 31 percent increase in enrollment.
Richard Eugene Duran, Doctor of Education, current president of Oxnard College in Oxnard, Calif. Duran is on the board of the American Association of Community Colleges. Earlier this year, Oxnard cut its intercollegiate basketball and volleyball teams because of budget issues. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Oxnard College put Oxnard College on probation status in January after its board failed to stop one of its members from behaving disruptively.
Dorothy Duran, PhD, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Dorothy Duran is a past dean and director of Northern New Mexico College's El Rito campus. She recently was a finalist for the position of president at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wash., and was a finalist last fall for the position of president at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Missouri. In 2005, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities named her a leadership fellow.
Leslie Anne Navarro, PhD, current president of Morton College in Cicero, lllinois. Navarro is Morton's first female and first Hispanic president.
The candidates will be visiting SFCC over the next two weeks, and will participate in public forums as well as meetings with campus groups. A committee of 19 SFCC faculty, students, staff and SFCC Foundation members chose the short list of candidates.
