New College of DuPage president won't have unanimous support

Any hopes the full College of DuPage Board could rally around a new president for the state's largest community college were dashed Friday when two trustees said they won't vote for any of the three finalists recommended by a search committee.

Trustees Dianne McGuire and Joseph Wozniak both criticized the presidential selection process and called on the board to launch a new search - even before they've had a chance to meet any of the candidates.

"The short answer is that a good selection cannot come from a fundamentally flawed, nontransparent and hypocritical process," McGuire said.

"I have a hard time supporting anything that committee comes up with," Wozniak said. "It's a flawed process and a flawed committee."

Their comments come just days before the public and full board are scheduled to meet with the three presidential candidates for the first time in a series of public forums at the Glen Ellyn school.

The finalists - Barbara Kavalier, district president of Navarro College in Texas; Ann Rondeau, a past president of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.; and David Sam, president of Elgin Community College - were recommended by a 14-member search team to replace Robert Breuder, who was fired in October amid state and federal investigations into the school's spending and administrative practices.

The committee said it received more than 380 applications for the post.

McGuire and Wozniak said they and Trustee Erin Birt were deliberately excluded from the search process and were not privy to the methods used to evaluate the applicants.

"With this process, we have not had the privilege of giving our own input," Wozniak said.

Email records obtained by the Daily Herald, however, show acting board Chairwoman Deanne Mazzochi asked McGuire, Birt and Wozniak in December if they wanted to serve on any committees, including the presidential search panel. The three trustees didn't respond.

McGuire on Friday also renewed her criticism of the "nontransparent" process used to hire the search firm - William E. Hay & Co. - that assisted the committee and again questioned the firm's qualifications.

In addition, she raised questions about the accuracy of some of the resume information submitted by at least two of the candidates.

"Selecting a president is the most important responsibility for a community college trustee," she said. "It is a decision that is based on a solid and transparent process. Mazzochi and her majority have an opportunity to begin this search again, and to do it right. I hope that they will."

The opposition does not come as a surprise. The board has been split 4-3 for about a year, with McGuire, Wozniak and Birt in the minority and Mazzochi, Frank Napolitano, Charles Bernstein and recent appointee David Olsen in the majority.

Napolitano said last week he feared it would be difficult for the two sides to unanimously agree on a choice for president, but he said a decision still must be made.

"If it has to be 4 to 3, it will have to be, because we need a new president," Napolitano said.

Mazzochi responded to McGuire's comments by saying it's "any trustee's prerogative to make their own decisions according to whatever standard they desire."

But Mazzochi said she's pleased with "the outstanding results" of the search process and the finalists are "very exceptional candidates."

All three candidates are scheduled to appear at public forums that will give residents, students and COD employees a chance to learn about them and ask questions.

The forums, to be moderated by Mazzochi and Faculty Senate President Glenn Hansen, are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Student Services Center, Room SSC-2206, 425 Fawell Blvd. Kavalier will appear Monday, Rondeau on Tuesday and Sam on Wednesday.

Questions can be sent ahead of time by emailing pres-questions@cod.edu or using Twitter (@pres_cod).

The sessions also will be streamed live on COD's website at cod.edu/multimedia_services/botmedia.aspx.

According to the agenda for the forums, each finalist will have up to 90 minutes to respond to questions from the public before going behind closed doors with trustees.

McGuire said she will be unable to attend Monday's session, but plans to be at the Tuesday and Wednesday meetings. Wozniak said he will "try to make a couple if I can, but I don't think I can make all three."

Daily operations at the college have been overseen by Joseph Collins, the acting interim president, since April, when Breuder was put on paid administrative leave.