District Board Names Interim President for Mission College

An interim president was appointed to head Mission College on Wednesday, two weeks after the Los Angeles Community College District board rejected three candidates for the permanent presidency.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Thomas Oliver will lead the Sylmar college until a new president is selected by the seven-member board of trustees. The board also voted to reopen the application process and announced plans to hire a private selection firm to expand the candidate pool.

Several members of the committee that recommended the three rejected finalists criticized the board’s decision.

“We respected the process--we thought we were really going to have an impact,” said committee member Irene Tovar of the Latin American Civic Assn. “It was a waste of time. It was a charade.”

The presidential search committee selected three candidates from an initial pool of 55 candidates. They were Valley College Vice President Susan Carleo, Illinois Central College Vice President Bettsy Barhorst and Saeed Ali, an aide to state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) and a staff member of the Latino legislative caucus in Sacramento.

A deadline has not been set for the appointment of a permanent president.

Mission College, with 22 acres and 6,620 students in one of the poorest sections of the San Fernando Valley, is the smallest campus in the district. But some district officials believe it also has the greatest potential for explosive growth.

The college’s last president, William Norlund, retired in June after failing to expand the college.

“Mission College is a critical institution,” said Kelly Candaele, the district board president. “We will expend the energy to make sure it thrives.”