Clovis Community College held a President Finalists Forum at their campus in a lecture hall on Monday.
Open to the public, the purpose of the Presidents Forum was to allow the final four candidates for President at Clovis Community College the opportunity to answer questions in front of an audience to illustrate why they deserve to be the next President of Clovis Community.
Perhaps most importantly, Chancellor Dr. Carole Goldsmith was also in attendance. Goldsmith, Chancellor of the State Center Community College District, is largely in charge of making the decision as to who will be appointed to the Presidency.
Dr. Goldsmith suspects that she and her team will move forward with a candidate sometime between November and December of this year.
The candidates, asked questions by moderator Jill Board, consultant for the Association of Community College Trustees. Each candidate was given an hour to elaborate and extrapolate upon their answers in front of the crowd as well as Dr. Goldsmith.
Those present at the forum were handed slips of paper that listed a schedule of the candidates’ allotted times and a QR Code that when scanned opened up a candidate feedback form, allowing participants to provide their opinions on each of the candidates.
The hope was that with the feedback from viewers of the forum, Chancellor Goldsmith will have some backing on which she and her team can make a decision.
First, Dr. Kenneth Lawson, Vice President for Instruction at Skagit Valley College in Washington, spoke to the crowd in the lecture hall.
Dr. Lawson, with over twenty years of experience at the community college level explained his belief that Clovis Community already has a foundation that is growing, and under his leadership, he plans to look for further opportunities of growth.
He then spoke about connecting to students and the “one student at a time” mission statement that is currently housed at Clovis Community College.
The next candidate, Monica Chahal, who holds a Masters Degree and currently serves as the Chief Instructional Officer at Clovis Community College, cited her thirty year experience in the California Community College system in various capacities as one of her best qualities.
Chahal historicized her grandfather’s experience as a chemistry instructor in India as the foundation for what she calls “the driving force” of her work.
The third candidate, Dr. Kim Armstrong, Vice Chancellor for Student, Equity and Community Affairs at Arkansas State University Three Rivers differentiated from her fellow candidates by taking her time detailing her experience and accolades as well as her devotion to the students of both Arkansas and Illinois.
Earning a Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree and a Ph.D from Howard University in Physiological/Neuropsychology, she was selected as one of only fifty nationally certified Student Success/Guided Pathways Coaches and one of eight selected to serve as an Arkansas Holistic Student Support Coach.
The final candidate, taking the 2:30-3:30 P.M. slot to answer the moderated questions, Dr. Marshall Fulbright III, relied on his over twenty-five years of education experience to relate to questions related to how he would advocate for students at Clovis Community College.
In his concluding statements, Dr. Fulbright stated that his perspective was “unique because of all the facets, intersectionalities that I have”.
Relating to a prior question where he was asked about uniqueness amongst students, he stated that there were “things you can see, and things you don’t see”, when viewing students through a particular lens.
To view the Presidents Forum in its entirety, one will have to venture to the SCCCD Youtube Page to find the recording of all four candidates. This will be posted by 6 P.M. October 10th. This forum will then close at 12 P.M. October 11th, the same time that comments and feedback provided to Chancellor Dr. Goldsmith and her team will close.
Dr. Goldsmith: “I have a difficult decision coming ahead. All four candidates seemed to represent the best and the brightest that the administration found not only here in California but across the nation. I was very impressed by all four candidates, so I’m looking forward to hearing what the audience members said.”
Link to the Presidents Forum Video:
https://youtube.com/c/StateCenterCommunityCollegeDistrict
Link for Forum Candidate Feedback Form: