Clark College names four finalists in search for next president

Clark College has announced four finalists to take over as president in 2020.

The finalists are:

• Karin Edwards, president of Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus. Edwards has been actively involved with the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Association of Community College Trustees Governance Conference and National Council on Black American Affairs. She also serves on the advisory board of the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs.

• Joaquin Martinez, district vice provost of institutional effectiveness at Miami Dade College. Martinez was also previously campus president at two Miami Dade campuses, associate dean of faculty and academic affairs, associate provost of student achievement and success, and dean of faculty and student services. Martinez previously was the founding director of the School of Education at Albizu University, which has campuses in Miami and Puerto Rico.

• Lamata Mitchell, vice president of instruction and academic operations at Pima Community College. She has a decade of experience in leadership positions at community colleges in Arizona and Illinois, and also has served on communities focused on college readiness. She is also a member of the Tucson NAACP and its scholarship committee, and co-chaired the scholarship committee of the Rockford Association of Minority Management in Illinois.

• Sara Thompson Tweedy, vice president of student access, involvement and success at the State University of New York Westchester Community College in Valhalla. Tweedy has also served on SUNY’S LGBTQ taskforce, enrollment management taskforce and collective bargaining negotiations team. Thompson Tweedy is also a volunteer firefighter and chaplain with the Kerhonkaon Volunteer Fire Department.

January public forums

Clark College with its search firm, Gold Hill Associates, winnowed the final field down from 65 applicants following President Bob Knight’s retirement. Interim President Sandra Fowler-Hill was not eligible to apply for the position.

Knight’s reputation at Clark College has been tarnished in recent weeks with the revelation he engaged in inappropriate, discriminatory behavior against women and people of color during his tenure there. The new president job description calls for a candidate with, among other qualities, a history of “leadership in equity, diversity and inclusion in service of an open environment to people from all backgrounds and experience levels.”

“Our applicant pool had a diverse mix of candidates at each step of the process,” said Trustee Paul Speer, who oversaw the finalist selection process for the board. “These four leaders emerged as having demonstrated the abilities required for success considering the position in its entirety.”

The candidates will be on campus for panel interviews and public forums in January. The college is slated to make its final decision by February 2020.