BROWNSVILLE — The first of four open forums for the four finalists for president of Texas Southmost College will begin this morning at the TSC Arts Center.
The forums will be held at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. today and Thursday, when finalists Hector Aguilar, Kenneth P. Gonzalez, Jesus Roberto Rodriguez and David E. Pearson will answer questions from a moderator. The candidates will interact with the public.
The community college has been searching for a new president following the firing of former president Lily Tercero in August 2016.
Edgar Chrnko, spokesman for TSC, said the candidates will be asked to answer a list of questions prepared by the President’s Office and TSC’s consultant. Those in the audience will also have the chance to ask the candidates questions as well.
“ They (the finalists) will be standing, and they will be mic’d. The moderator will ask the questions that they already have prepared, and then it may lead into opening questions for the audience,” Chrnko said.
The forums will be held as follows:
>>10 a.m. today: The forum will feature Aguilar who has served as Dean of Continuing Education at Austin Community College for the past seven years. Aguilar has worked with ACC for 20 years.
>> 3 p.m. today: The forum will feature Gonzalez who is the director of a Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership and a data coach for the National Initiative Achieving of the Dream.
>>10 a.m. Thursday: The forum will feature Rodriguez who serves as Dean for the Business Center for Excellence at the Houston Community College District.
>>3 p.m. Thursday: The forum will feature Pearson who recently served as the dean of the campus at San Diego State University’s Imperial Valley Campus. Pearson has also served as vice president for partnership affairs at UTB-TSC.
Chrnko said the forums are part of the last phase of the process in to the TSC Board of Trustees selecting a new president to head the college.
“ While they are here, they are also going to be interviewed by the board, and then after these two days are over with it is going to go to the board to make a decision,” Chrnko said.
The interview of each candidate will be held in executive session of a special TSC Board meeting to be held after each candidate’s open forum.
The finalist selected by the Board of Trustees to serve as the new president will be announced at the next regular board meeting, Chrnko said.
