PANAMA CITY BEACH — Interviews of five candidates for Gulf Coast State College’s president end today, and the Board of Trustees expects to select the school’s next leader at a meeting Thursday.
“We’ve had, so far, four good candidates; we have one more tomorrow,” trustee Don Crisp said Monday. “The hard thing about it will be making the decision.”
John Holdnak was interviewed by the board Monday. A sixth candidate, Joe Pickens, who is the current president at St. John’s River State College east of Gainesville, pulled out of the process after a presidential search committee narrowed the pool down to six from over 90 applicants.
The position pays between $124,848 and $249,696. July 31 is current president Jim Kerley’s last day.
“Any one of them could do the job at Gulf Coast,” said board chairman Ralph Roberson. “We just have to think about some of the subtle issues and decide who we think would be the really the best fit.
“We have to consider from the larger perspective; for the board, we have to consider a lot of different angles,” he said.
The warmth in the dimly lit room at Bay Point Wyndham Resort Monday possibly added to the seriousness of trustees intentions to ask the right questions in order to select the best president for the college.
They jotted notes as they alternated questioning Holdnak in several areas, from fundraising to representing the college in the community and Legislature.
No side conversations were had and though some smiled at Holdnak’s few lightly humored answers, trustees were without facial expressions.
“We have some issues that are very central to this college,” Roberson said. “How will they fit into the community, how they will manage the college, how effective will they be in leading and visioning, along with their relationships with faculty and staff and students.
“There’s a lot that goes into being president of the college,” he added. “You want to learn what really makes that person up. How do they act when the camera turns off and the microphone is not there.”
Candidates start their day at about 8:15 a.m. and meet with a number of leaders on campus and throughout the community. At 4 p.m. they begin interviewing with the trustees, followed by a less formal conversation at the Wyndham during a dinner following the interview.
“The process has been very good,” said trustee Katie Patronis, who sat on the presidential search committee. “We’ve had a really good pool of candidates to share some great ideas that they feel that they can help the college with and help us to improve on and, quite frankly, to sustain the top rankings that Gulf Coast has in our state.”
A new president is scheduled to be selected at a special meeting at 11:15 a.m. following Thursday’s regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. The regular meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the William C. Cramer Jr. Seminar Room (Room 306) in Student Union West at Gulf Coast State College, 5230 W. U.S. 98.
WANT TO GO?
-What: Gulf Coast State College Board of Trustees special meeting
-When: 11:15 a.m. Thursday
-Where: William C. Cramer Jr. Seminar Room (Room 306) in Student Union West at Gulf Coast State College, 5230 W. U.S. 98.
-Why: To select GCSC’s new president
-Details: Contact person for the meeting is Cheryl Flax-Hyman, 769-1551 ext. 3215 or email cflax-hyman&gulfcoast.edu
5 FINALISTS
- George Bishop, Ph.D. – vice president of academic affairs and learning support, Gulf Coast State College
- John Holdnak, Ed.D. – executive vice chancellor, Department of Education/Division of Florida Colleges
- William Kibler, Ph.D. – vice president for student affairs, Mississippi State University
- Anthony Kinkel, Ed.D. – president, Wichita Area Technical College
- Allen Witt, Ph.D. – president, South Shore Campus, Hillsborough Community College