After an exhaustive search, the Salt Lake Community College Presidential Search Committee has narrowed down the applicant pool to these three highly-qualified candidates, and is honored to recommend them to the Board of Regents for their consideration in selecting a new leader for SLCC. – Regent France Davis, search committee chairman
SALT LAKE CITY — The search for a new president of Salt Lake Community College has been narrowed down to three finalists, the Utah System of Higher Education announced Friday.
SLCC interim President Deneece Huftalin, Tony Miksa, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs at McHenry County College in Illinois, and Christopher Villa, vice president of Student Services at Fresno City College in Callifornia, were selected from among 55 candidates following a nationwide search.
"After an exhaustive search, the Salt Lake Community College Presidential Search Committee has narrowed down the applicant pool to these three highly-qualified candidates, and is honored to recommend them to the Board of Regents for their consideration in selecting a new leader for SLCC,” Regent France Davis, search committee chairman, said in a prepared statement. “We thank SLCC’s trustees, faculty, students and staff, along with the community as a whole, for their valuable participation in this process.”
The three finalists will conduct meetings with SLCC faculty, staff and students on Wednesday prior to their final interviews with the Board of Regents during a closed meeting on Thursday.
The regents are expected to make their selection Thursday, although a public announcement may be delayed until a later date.
Former SLCC President Cynthia Bioteau left the school in October 2013 to accept a position as president of Florida State College at Jacksonville.
SLCC comprises 13 locations — six major campuses and seven satellite offices — and enrolled more than 35,000 students last fall, giving it the second-largest total headcount in the state behind the University of Utah.
Huftalin was named interim president in November and previously served as SLCC's vice president of student services. She has a bachelor’s and doctorate degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree from UCLA.
Miksa previously served as dean of the Math, Science, Engineering and Health Professions Division at Elgin Community College and as an instructor, basketball coach and later dean at Kishwaukee Community College. He holds degrees from Kishwaukee Community College, Mount Mercy College, the University of Northern Iowa and National Louis University.
Villa was named vice president of student services at Fresno City College in 2009. He previously served as vice president of Student Support Services at Long Beach City College.
Villa received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California and a doctorate in Education, Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah.
Email: benwood@deseretnews.com
Twitter: bjaminwood