4 finalists left in hunt for new position
USC is close to naming the first chancellor of its Palmetto College, and an announcement is expected in the first weeks of next year.
A search committee for the position reviewed around 40 applications for the position, Provost Michael Amiridis said, and now, it’s down to four finalists.
Whoever takes the position will be tasked with getting the fledgling program, which will combine USC’s existing two-year regional campuses with an online program for students who have already completed 60 credit hours, off the ground and marketing it to South Carolina residents and the state’s general assembly, Amiridis said.
The four candidates come from two primary backgrounds: Two have experience working with two-year community colleges, and two have worked with online education programs, according to their résumés. Candidates were required to have a “demonstrated” understanding in both, according to the position’s job description.
Interviews for the candidates start today and run through Dec. 19, Amiridis said. A few days after that, the committee should have made its recommendation.
The four are:
— Thomas Cavanagh, the assistant vice president for distributed learning at the University of Central Florida, where he was responsible for that school’s online course programs. Cavanagh previously directed eLearning for the Florida Space Research Institute.
— John Dozier, the vice president of operations for South Carolina–based Umatch Inc., a higher education data analysis company. Dozier has also worked in the administrations of Denmark Technical College and the City Colleges of Chicago.
— Susan Elkins, the vice president of extended programs and regional development and the dean of the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Tennessee Technological University. Elkins has worked at the university since 1991.
— Monica Orozco, the assistant provost for eLearning at Florida Atlantic University. Orozco established the school’s Center for eLearning and worked previously as Auburn University’s director of distance learning.
Over the next two weeks, each candidate will give a public presentation on his or her vision for Palmetto College, Amiridis said. Cavanagh begins the series today at 2:45 p.m. Orozco will follow on Dec. 12, Elkins on Dec. 18 and Dozier on Dec. 19. Amiridis will moderate a question-and-answer session with each candidate, and, as the presentations will be live-streamed, he’ll also accept questions for the candidates via email. The provost’s office sent an email to all 70,000 of the system’s students, faculty and staff encouraging them to submit any questions they have.
Between the two types of backgrounds, Amiridis said the university doesn’t have much of a preference, since the program will have to fuse both regional campuses and online programs.
That’s a unique challenge for the chancellor position, which will stand at equal footing with USC’s four-year campus heads, Amiridis said.
The chancellor won’t deal much with academics, but he or she will have to collaborate with the system’s four-year campuses, which will, Amiridis said. They’ll have to show the state’s residents that the program’s accessible, especially to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and they’ll have to convince the General Assembly that its $5 million investment was worth it.
How much the new hire will be paid isn’t yet clear, pending negotiation, but Amiridis said the salary would be similar to USC’s three other chancellors. They’re paid between $165,000 and $194,800, according to data from the state Budget and Control Board.
The university is also accepting applications for dean positions at three of Palmetto College’s four two-year campuses — Lancaster, Sumter and Union. The search for those began after the chancellor hunt so the new head could have a say in who eventually fills those roles, Amiridis said.
All of the searches have been conducted by Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search, costing the university nearly $200,000. Of that, USC paid $60,000 for coordination of the chancellor search and $45,000 for each of the deans — according to Chris Byrd, the vice president for human resources.
The unified search has helped bring in more applicants, Amiridis said, as did an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that highlighted the program. Those positions should be filled in the spring, Amiridis said.
That represents a change from last year, when a search for a dean at the Union campus was unsuccessful, he said, in large part because the campus’s name recognition was low.
But so far, the searches have been successful, and Amiridis, who’s been overseeing the program and led it through its first semester, said he’s excited about their progress
“I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve been acting as the trustee of the program, but I’m not the owner of the program,” Amiridis said. “It’s good to bring the owner on board.”