The faculty at Miami Dade College held a funeral for ‘integrity’ in presidential search
The procession carried a casket past the front entrance of Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus on Thursday.
More than 100 faculty members attended, dressed in black graduation robes, bearing these signs:
“R.I.P. Here lies the INTEGRITY of the presidential search at Miami Dade College.”
The funeral-like protest was held on 305 Day to “mourn” what faculty members maintain has been an opaque process to select the next leader of one of the country’s largest colleges. The college has received at least 14 applications as of Thursday — dozens fewer than when the first search was called off last July.
“We are not generating the kind of interest that we should, and that’s a result of the last fiasco,” said Elizabeth Ramsey, president of the United Faculty of Miami Dade College.
The Board of Trustees will meet on March 26 to review the slate of candidates and decide who will be interviewed. That would be the second meeting regarding the presidential search since the process officially rebooted in January.
The Miami Herald and its radio news partner, WLRN, obtained applications for the presidential job. Most of them are academics and community college administrators. Some have backgrounds at local universities, such as Florida International and Nova Southeastern. A few came from the private sector.
They are: Deanna Romano, vice president for academic affairs at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Mount Gay, West Virginia; Andrew Nwanne, chief academic officer and provost at New Mexico State University in Carlsbad, New Mexico; John Frederic Garmon from the Centers for Academic Success at College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas; Randall Upchurch, director of special projects at Florida Gulf Coast University; James Malm, chancellor and professor of business at the University of New Mexico in Gallup, New Mexico; Michael Partyka, program manager for energy security at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Headquarters in Washington, D.C.; Ravi Chinta, full professor of management at Nova Southeastern University; Al Skudzinskas, vice president of finance and administration and chief operating officer of the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission in Columbia, Maryland.; Martin Shapiro, the former marketing communications department chair at the Berkeley Colleges of New York and New Jersey; Paul Low, associate chief of staff at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi; Efrain Vazquez-Vera, full professor at the University of Puerto Rico Humacao Campus; Tomi Wahlström, vice president of academic affairs at United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama; and Linda Vickers, an engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Lenore Rodicio, the college’s executive vice provost and sole finalist who remained after the first search was called off, remains the clear favorite among faculty. She also submitted an application and included a letter to the college’s board reiterating her candidacy.
“Many have questions why I remain interested in serving as President of the institution,” Rodicio wrote. “I believe in our mission. I believe in our students. I am committed to that mission and to our students as our institution continues to evolve to meet the educational and workforce needs of our dynamic and vibrant community.”
That wasn’t all the “mourners” protested. Faculty members lamented their decreased representation on the presidential search committee and questioned why trustees only “prefer” — not require — a terminal degree.
“We expect our college president to have the qualifications,” said Ray Morales, an art professor at the Kendall campus. “Those things should not waver. Those are standards in academia.”