The next Peninsula College president is visiting Port Angeles, Forks and Port Townsend this week.
Public forums featuring each of the four finalists under consideration for the Peninsula College president’s post have been scheduled in each town.
Each candidate will visit the main campus in Port Angeles and the Forks and Port Townsend Extension sites to participate in the community forums.
The finalists, all affiliated with institutions outside of Washington state and all of whom hold doctorates, are:
â– Dorothy J. Duran, vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
â– Cheri A. Jimeno, president of New Mexico State University, Alamogordo, in Alamogordo, N.M.
â– John R. (Ron) Langrell III, executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn.
â– Luke P. Robins, chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, La.
The new president, once chosen, will replace Tom Keegan, who was hired to be Skagit Valley College’s new president after 10 years leading Peninsula College.
Brinton Sprague, a retired community college leader now living in Port Ludlow, is serving as Peninsula’s interim president.
Peninsula College trustees chose the finalists from a field of 23 applicants Feb. 21.
The earliest trustees will make a decision is March 20; the college may have a permanent president by the end of June.
Schedule of forums
â– Port Angeles:
All of the public forums in Port Angeles will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in Keegan Hall on the main campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Robins will be featured Monday, Jimeno on Tuesday, Langrell on Wednesday and Duran on Thursday.
â– Forks:
Each candidate will meet with Forks faculty, staff and community members from 11 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday at the Forks Extension site at 71 S. Forks Ave.
Robins will be at the Monday forum, while Jimeno is scheduled Tuesday, Langrell on Wednesday and Duran on Thursday.
â– Port Townsend.
Port Townsend forums are set Tuesday through Friday.
Each candidate will meet with Port Townsend faculty, staff and community members from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the chapel at Fort Worden State Park.
Robins will be featured Tuesday, Jimeno on Wednesday, Langrell on Thursday and Duran on Friday.
Robins,who has served as chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College since 2006, in April also became interim regional director of Northeast Louisiana Technical College.
He was executive vice president and chief academic officer at National Park Community College in Hot Springs, Ark., and dean of instruction at Eastern Idaho Technical College in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Background
Langrell has served as executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Minnesota since 2005.
Langrell also served as chief administrative officer for the Owatonna College and University Center from 2005 to 2008 and as chief student affairs officer from 2005 to 2010.
Prior to his work in Minnesota, Langrell served as vice president of instruction-chief workforce officer and as instructional director of Vocational-Technical & Continuing Education at Walla Walla Community College.
He also was director of student services personnel-chief student affairs officer for the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Jimeno has served as president of New Mexico State University, Alamogordo, in Alamogordo, N.M. since 2007.
She also has served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Montana State University, Northern, in Havre, Mont., and as dean of the School of Education, Business and Technology at the University of Montana, Western, in Dillon, Mont., where she also was an associate professor of business and department chair.
As vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College, a position she has held since 2006, Duran supervises five academic divisions, one branch campus and four educational centers.
Prior to her work in Iowa, Duran served as dean and director of the El Rito campus of Northern New Mexico College and also worked at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, and at the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute, N.M.