PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College officials have narrowed their list for the school’s next president to four.
Trustees announced their selection of finalists for the presidency on Wednesday — three from the Interstate 5 corridor and a fourth from Austin, Texas.
The new president will be announced in late April and is expected to begin work July 1.
Before then, public forums are scheduled for the weeks of April 11 and April 18.
Each candidate will participate in three forums — one for faculty and staff, one for students and one for community members — all on one day.
The forums will be in Room J-47 at the college’s Port Angeles campus, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., with a maximum capacity of 50. They also will be accessible virtually.
“We invite and encourage everyone to participate in the open forums; no RSVP is needed,” College officials said in a press release.
Each forum will feature a brief introduction of each candidate, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Those participating in the candidate forums will be asked to provide feedback to the Board of Trustees via an online survey.
The new president will fill the position now held by Luke Robins, who has led Peninsula College since July 2012. He plans to retire at the end of 2021-22.
His annual salary in 2020 was $140,600 according to gov.salaries.com.
Peninsula College conducted community forums in November to aid in developing a presidential profile for use in recruiting.
The candidates
Here is information about the four finalists for president of Peninsula College.
• Suzanne Ames is currently the vice president of instruction at Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland.
Previously the associate vice president of instruction at the same school, Ames earned a doctor of education degree in Educational Leadership for Change from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Caif., and a master’s degree of Business Administration in Marketing from City University in Seattle.
She also had two bachelors of arts degrees, in Communications and Political Science, from the University of Washington.
• Melissa Curtis is associate vice chancellor of enrollment management for the Austin Community College District in Austin, Texas.
She previously served as dean of student affairs for the Austin Community College’s Eastview campus, also in Austin.
Curtis earned a doctor of philosophy degree in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, and a bachelor of arts degree in Oral Traditions in African American Literature from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
• Kristen Jones most recently served as provost, acting president and acting vice president of human resources at Bellevue College.
She previously worked as vice president of instruction at North Seattle College in Seattle.
Jones earned a doctor of education degree in Community College Leadership and a master of science degree in Counseling from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. She also earned a bachelor of science degree in Psychology and Gerontology from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
• Kerry Levett is vice president for student learning and success at Cascadia College in Bothell.
She previously worked as executive dean of student affairs at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore.
Levett earned a doctor of education degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., a master of arts degree in Education from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and a bachelor of arts degree in Christian Education from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa.
For more about the candidates, see the college’s presidential finalist page at pencol.edu/presidential-search/finalists. Email questions to ask the final candidates to kfrancis@pencol.edu.
Suzanne Ames.
Melissa Curtis.
Kristen Jones.
Kerry Levett.
