Joseph Hankin was the longest-serving community college president in the country when he announced his retirement from Westchester Community College last November.
Hankin, who led the college since 1971, amassed a collection of three degrees, four honorary degrees and 100 awards and honors over the years. He was credited with sparking fundraising for the Westchester Community College Foundation and growing the college”™s education program into the largest in the SUNY system.
“Dr. Hankin is Westchester Community College,” Patrick Hennessey, director of college-community relations, said.
WCC is nearing the end of its search for a new president, with the board of trustees hoping to have Hankin”™s successor in place sometime during the fall semester. There will be high expectations for the new president, taking over from someone whose name has become nearly synonymous with the institution. WCC, in its search, has had the challenge of finding someone to live up to Hankin ”” while pushing the college forward as it faces a shifting post-secondary educational landscape.
“It”™s a significant undertaking,” Hennessey said of the search.
The firm R.H. Perry & Associates helped in the national search and a college search committee has narrowed down nearly 60 applicants for the job to five finalists. Most of the finalists have visited WCC for interviews and networking. WCC”™s board is vetting the candidates, checking their references and may visit their current places of employment across the country to see some of the potential presidents”™ handiwork.
During the search process, John F.M. Flynn was named interim president. Flynn has a long history with WCC and since the 1970s has worked as a faculty member and also vice president and dean of academic affairs. Flynn worked alongside Hankin for years, and Hankin remains active during the transition, Hennessey said.
WCC”™s main campus occupies more than 200 acres in Valhalla. There are 13,000 students attending classes for college credit and more taking courses without credit. In total, there are 30,000 students enrolled at WCC, making it the largest college in the county and fourth-largest out of the 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system. Challenges for the new president include answering questions about how to use online education, identifying what technical training is relevant to students and also maintaining a reputation for WCC that turns the stigma of a community college on its head.
David Swope, chairman of the board of trustees, said one of the president”™s greatest challenges will be strengthening the public perception of WCC as an enticing educational option for students who may not be ready yet to move on to a four-year, private institution.
“Too often in the past, I think people have seen WCC as a college of last resort and really it”™s so much more than that,” Swope said.
The finalists for a more permanent replacement include WCC”™s vice president and dean of academic affairs, Joanne L. Russell. Paul Broadie, vice president of student services at SUNY”™s Orange County Community College, is also a finalist. The other finalists are Felix J. Aquino, vice president of academic affairs for Oklahoma City Community College; Jean A. Whibey, provost for Palm Beach (Fla.) State College”™s Palm Beach Gardens campus; and Belinda S. Miles, provost and executive vice president of access, learning and success at Cuyahoga Community College in the county where Cleveland is located.
WCC”™s choice will need approval from the SUNY board of trustees. Although WCC will have the option of continuing its search, Swope said pending background checks and additional interviews, the finalists seemed to meet the board”™s hopes. Swope said it was important to get the next president in place as soon as possible to be able to outline an agenda for the future of the college. Still, such an undertaking isn”™t something to be rushed for an institution like WCC.
“It”™s a major educational resource in Westchester and we are not taking this lightly of course,” he said.
