College of DuPage president search down to final four

The search for College of DuPage's next president has narrowed to four candidates.

But the committee conducting the search will do additional vetting before recommending a formal list of finalists for the COD board of trustees to consider, officials say.

"We continue our process," search committee Chairman Lee Daniels said in a statement. "We are extremely proud of the search committee's work and that of our search firm, which has brought us some extremely gifted candidates."

After the search committee makes its recommendation to the COD board, trustees will conduct public forums to introduce the candidates.

Acting Interim President Joseph Collins has been overseeing the daily operations of the Glen Ellyn-based school since last April, when former President Robert Breuder was placed on paid administrative leave amid state and federal investigations into COD's spending and administrative practices.

After COD did an internal investigation, four of the seven board members voted in October to fire Breuder. That led Breuder to file a federal wrongful termination lawsuit against the four trustees - Deanne Mazzochi, Frank Napolitano, Charles Bernstein and former board Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton, who resigned in December for unspecified personal reasons.

Despite controversies, investigations and political divisions at the state's largest community college, more than 380 people applied for the top administrative post.

Consultants hired by COD checked resumes and conducted interviews until they had 12 candidates for the search committee to review.

After doing their own series of interviews, committee members met Thursday night to pick the candidates they prefer. They ended up choosing four.

During the meeting, Daniels said he was going to appoint a subcommittee to continue the process of vetting each of the remaining candidates. That work is expected to include looking into their backgrounds and talking with people who have worked with them.

Daniels said all of the candidates he's met "are capable of leading this college to a new greatness."

So when they make their recommendations, Daniels said, search committee members "will be in a position to hold our heads up high and say we've done a job and we've done it well."

According to a timeline on the school's website, the COD board is expected to interview the finalists in mid-April. Public forums with the finalists are slated for the end of April.

COD trustees could pick the school's next president in May, but that assumes the divided board will be able to agree on a candidate and successfully negotiate a contract.