Sunday, July 10, 2016

SOCCCD Chancellorology: acting, interim, and permanent

     On July 1, just four days after the tense June board meeting (see Awkward), district denizens received a surprising communication that stated that "Chancellor Gary Poertner has announced his retirement effective today...." It went on to explain that "Vice Chancellor Debra Fitzsimons will serve as Acting Chancellor until further notice. A special meeting of the board will be scheduled for next week and more information will follow."
     The special meeting occurred four days later (July 5).
     The next day (July 6), the district sent yet another communication, asserting that “Dr. Debra L. Fitzsimons was appointed to serve as Acting Chancellor last night on a 7-0 vote during a special board meeting....
     Fitzsimons is not Interim Chancellor, for, at the end of the July 6 communication, we’re told that “She will serve in the acting position until an Interim Chancellor is selected."
     Then, finally, there's this: "The board will initiate a nationwide search for a permanent Chancellor.”
     So, based on these communications, one can glean these factoids:

  • Poertner retired on July 1. 
  • Fitzsimons was appointed Acting Chancellor on July 5, though she started in that role on July 1. (This suggests that Poertner's resignation came as a surprise.) 
  • The district plans to select an “Interim Chancellor” (to replace the "Acting" Chancellor). 
  • And the board plans to replace the Interim Chancellor with a “permanent Chancellor.” 
  • There'll be a "nationwide search" for the permanent Chancellor.

     Is that about it?
* * *
     Presumably, the "acting Chancellor" position is a mere stopgap—a temporary and brief state of affairs until something more official is put into place.
      So be looking for the announcement of the selection of an "Interm Chancellor."
      I bet they'll go with a rent-an-administrator. Someone nice and uncontroversial. A reassuring benign smilester.
      What do you think?
      The next board meeting will be on July 18.
* * *

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...