After eight months of searching, the Peralta Board of Trustees unanimously rejected all three candidates—Ed Gould, Lawrence Cox and Edna Chun—for the position of Peralta Community College District Chancellor at their meeting on Dec. 7.
Their decision means that a permanent replacement for interim chancellor Wise Allen, who took over for embattled Chancellor Elihu Harris, may not be in place until the 2011-2012 academic year. The board had hoped to find a replacement by the end of the spring semester.
Those in attendance lauded the board’s decision, as faculty has complained about a lack of inclusion on the Chancellor Hiring Committee.
Members of the committee were nominated at a meeting during finals week of the spring 2010 semester, a busy week for faculty, and approved at a meeting two weeks after the end of the semester, when most teachers were unavailable for input.
Due to the timing of these meetings, faculty representatives felt as if they had little say in how the committee was formed and who was represented, according to Peralta Federation of Teachers President Debra Weintraub.
“I am concerned that some of the colleges are not represented on the committee, that student services doesn’t have a seat at the table and that some of the unions may be underrepresented,” Weintraub said at a Sep. 16 board meeting.
The 11-member committee originally included faculty, students, administrators and members of the community, but was expanded to 13 members after complaints from the PFT.
Despite the political wrangling, none of the three finalists—chosen from a pool of 10 applicants by the expanded committee—were seen as fit to lead the district, which is facing numerous problems including budget deficits and a probationary accreditation status.
In other business, trustees William Riley, Abel Guillen and Linda Handy were sworn in following their successful re-election bids. In its annual organizational meeting, the board appointed Dr. Riley as the new board president, replacing Guillen whose one-year term ended on Dec. 6.
The Peralta Report 