3 Finalists for Chancellor Remain

After two days of first-round interviews, three candidates for chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District have been chosen for final interviews with its board of trustees.

The board will pick the district’s new leader after the final interviews, scheduled for Monday. Its decision will be announced no earlier than November--nearly one year after Chancellor Thomas Lakin died of an infection.

“I think we have three good candidates,” said Jerry Pauley, district vice chancellor of human resources. “We’ve got someone in there who can do the job.”

All three finalists have executive-level experience in community college districts, including one in California. The other candidates are from the Midwest and East Coast, Pauley said.

The finalists, who Pauley declined to identify, are all men. Only two women applied for the position and one was asked to interview, but withdrew her application at the last minute, according to officials.

Consensus on the top three candidates among the 23-member selection committee, whose job was to pare down applicants for the board, came fairly easily Monday, Pauley said. The selection committee had received 55 applications and chose 10 for the first-round interviews.

The selection committee--composed of faculty, administrators, students, non-teaching staff members, and five community representatives appointed by a trustee--questioned six of the 10 candidates last week, after four declined offers to interview.

Trustees will be notified of the final candidates Thursday.