Maricopa County Community Colleges announce collaborative hiring process
Interim president for Mesa Community College Kimberly Britt announced on Feb. 27 a collaborative relationship between MCC, South Mountain Community College and Glendale Community College in an effort to combine resources for a joint search for a new Vice President of Academic Affairs at each of the three colleges.
Britt made the announcement via an email sent to all employees at the college, stating it is meant to be a pilot endeavor for the district.
“The search process will include District and College level search committees. The District committee will consist of three representatives from each college, plus the Faculty Executive Council and District Staff representatives,” said Britt in the announcement.
The three representatives of MCC in the district committee are Liz Csikar, Faculty Chair of Life Sciences, Lindsey Pedersen, faculty of the Art department and member of Faculty Senate, and Nicole Collins, Executive Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at MCC, according to the announcement.
Megan McGuire, Stephanie Polliard, and Mary Boyce will serve as tri-chairs for the MCC college committee. The committee is made up of the same members from the search committee during a hiring process in the fall, according to the announcement.
The hiring process is broken into three phases, according to the announcement.
In phase one, the district committee will conduct initial interviews and screenings through an initial pool of candidates, according to the announcement.
In phase two, applicants are interviewed by the college committee that, “will also help us determine if the candidates’ expertise and leadership philosophies align with those of MCC,” read the announcement.
“The final phase involves comprehensive interviews with our broader college community, including open forums,” said the announcement regarding phase three.
In addition to the three phase plan, it was also announced that the search firm ACCT Searches will, “facilitate this combined search, with costs covered by the District Office,” according to the announcement.
The process is similar to the hiring process explained to The Mesa Legend by Garrett Smith, human resources director at MCC, for a previous story regarding the hiring of current Vice President of Student Affairs Jeannetta Hollins.
“The search committee consisted of 13 personnel, led by three tri-chairs. The tri-chairs represented faculty, staff, and a VPSA from one of our sister colleges within the Maricopa County Community College District,” said Smith regarding the hiring process.
An important difference is the lack of a VPSA representing another college.
The other members of the MCC college committee include Donna Adams, Mona Elaqad, John Griffith, Leanna Hall, Luke Mumaw, Kathleen Perales, Mona Scott, Allison Sleigh and Jennifer Strickland, according to the announcement.
The committee members represent a wide range of departments at MCC including Life Sciences, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Human Resources and Education Studies.
