MIDLAND, Texas — The search for a new president at Midland College is getting closer to the finish line, as a pool of over 50 candidates from around the country has been narrowed to 11.
The Midland College board of trustees will hold confidential interviews with all 11 candidates over the next couple of days, before narrowing it down to three or four finalists.
The board met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, as the search committee shared with the rest of the board the semifinalists during private conversations, and they have done their due diligence so far.
“I’m exhausted, and the process has been exhaustive, very exhaustive," said Steven Kiser, Chairman for the Midland College Board of Trustees. "It’s the most important thing we do as board members, to provide a leader for this college and we’ve only had four — now we’re going to have our fifth in 50 years. It’s critical and we’re leaving no stone unturned.”
As the board gets set to take another step closer in the search for a new president, the first week of May will be influential.
“During the week of May 1, we will have those finalists out to the campus to do public forums, to tour the campus, talk with our president, personally interview with the board, and we’ll do one of those people each day," said Kiser.
Public forums were held when the search process started in early February, feedback that proved helpful to the board.
“We all learn something everyday, and I’ve learned a lot through this process about specific needs for the campus, people’s… vision for the community, where we want to go from where we are to where we need to be, tremendously educational," said Kiser. "It worked great [and] it’s why we want to do it again.”
When the time comes to select the lone finalist, the board would like to make that decision largely on community input.
“The candidates will be, people will be allowed to question, they’ll be moderated by Dr. Holda, but they’ll also be available by Zoom, and then people will be allowed to express their opinions about each particular candidate through an anonymous survey, and all of that input will be received by the board and taken into consideration," said Kiser.
Kiser said that they have great candidates remaining who all have experience and an understanding of community colleges.
He also shared that the overall timeline is to have the lone finalist selected by the second week of May, the new president named on June 1, and for that individual to be working by the first of July.