News
Interviews set to identify Luna presidential finalists
Luna Community College hopes to conclude its search for a president by February, and the school has released a timeline for final interviews and a potential date for the selection to be named.
The board updated the public on the search at its regular monthly meeting Monday night at its Springer satellite.
The national search began in mid-2018 and was extended in November after the LCC Board of Trustees’ original choice, Dr. Bruce Moses, withdrew his name from consideration.
Trustees began the search after enlisting the services of a Colorado-based search firm and advertising nationally. A committee that included representation of students, faculty, staff and community members was entrusted with the process of reviewing applications and narrowing the field of 86 hopefuls to more than a dozen semifinalists. In September and October, the board of trustees held on-campus interviews with five finalists.
The remaining four finalists interviewed this past fall along with four from the pool of semifinalists – still to be interviewed by the board – will be considered for the presidential vacancy.
Dr. Robert Munoz, Dr. Rolando Rael, Dr. Arturo Cervantes, and Dr. Nicholas Akinkuoye are scheduled for interviews Jan. 17-22.
Those four will join previous applicants Dr. Anthony Hancock, Dr. Jeremy Moreland, Dr. Diana Pino, and Dr. LeRodrick Terry. Luna’s trustees, on the advice of legal counsel in following New Mexico statutory requirements, chose to expand the field of finalists considered. Statute calls for at least five finalists to be considered prior to final action in the presidential selection process.
Munoz is scheduled to meet with the board at 8 a.m. Jan. 17. Rael will interview at 1 p.m. also on Jan. 17. Cervantes’ interview is 8 a.m. Jan. 18. Akinkuoye’s interview is 8 a.m. Jan. 22.
The college also plans to coordinate teleconference forums that allow for the campus community to interact with each of the new applicants. These are expected to take place on Jan. 24 and 25.
Trustees could decide on their choice in a public meeting in February.
Ricky Serna has served as Luna’s interim president since July 2017. In that time, the college has upgraded its accreditation status to probationary. The Higher Learning Commission had issued a show-cause order in November 2017. While Luna is on probation, it has an opportunity to remedy the issues the led to the show-cause order and provide evidence of having done so by March 1. An on-site visit by the HLC is scheduled to occur by May, with a decision on Luna’s accreditation status due in November.