Candidates interview for VP position

The campus community has had the opportunity to meet and question two deans vying for the vice president of Academic Affairs position, which will be vacated by June 30, 2012, when Lois Veath retires.

Initially four candidates expressed interest in the position; however, two individuals withdrew from consideration, and now only two remain – Michael Anderson and Charles Snare.

Both candidates are currently deans at institutions of higher learning. Anderson is dean of the School of Education at New Mexico Highlands University, and Snare is the dean of Teaching and Learning at CSC.

After an initial telephone interview, both Snare and Anderson were invited for a series of in-person meetings, interviews, and presentations taking place this week. Anderson met with the search committee, CSC administration, faculty, and students on Monday. Snare followed with similar meetings Wednesday.

The selection process is being handled by a search committee chaired by Randy Rhine, CSC’s Vice President for Enrollment, Management, and Student Services.

At each forum, attending faculty and staff were encouraged to fill out surveys about each candidate, rating perceived strengths, weaknesses, and adding any additional comments they believed to be pertinent.

Anderson’s presentation, accompanied by a slideshow, comprised four main talking points – the purpose of schooling, is re-imagining enough, what is the comparative advantage for comprehensives, and modeling adaptive expertise. An average of 20 faculty and staff attended each presentation.

Snare’s presentation focused on the aspects of choice, and how those aspects influence student retention and engagement.

“Choice can be a good thing or a very negative thing,” Snare said.

Each candidate’s itinerary also included time for a student forum. However, only four students attended each forum, three of the four were the same for each.