The Rockland Community College (RCC) Board of Trustees has announced the launch of a search for the college’s next president.
Back in June, RCC and its president at the time, Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo agreed to part ways. It had been reported that SUNY RCC has been facing a budget deficit and that there was some on-campus dissatisfaction including from the Faculty Senate at the school that had asked the Board of Trustees to remove Rápalo.
“The Board is now focused on ensuring a seamless leadership transition,” the Board of Trustees’ statement said in June. “Effective immediately Beth Coyle Ed.D. will assume the position of Officer in Charge.”
Prior to joining RCC, Rápalo had been the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bronx Community College, City University of New York (CUNY).
The college has hired the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in the search process. The search will be guided by a Presidential Search Committee. The committee’s 16 members represent a cross-section of RCC’s stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, local leaders, and community representatives.
L’Tanya M. Watkins, chair of the RCC Board of Trustees, said, “We are dedicated to finding an outstanding leader who will uphold RCC’s mission to continue providing transformative educational experiences to our diverse student body. We are grateful to the search committee for their commitment, and we look forward to a transparent and inclusive search process.”
Final interviews with candidates are expected to take place in December.
In addition to its main campus in Suffern, RCC has locations in Nyack and Orangeburg. The college says that more than 5,300 students take credit and non-credit courses at RCC, and more than 200,000 people visit the campus each year for cultural, recreational and other events.
