Beginning Monday, Flathead Valley Community College is set to host a series of community forums, open for members of the public to meet and ask questions of its four presidential search finalists.
The forums are slated to take place Monday through Thursday at the Flathead Valley Community College’s Wachholz Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, in room 128. They’ll run from 8 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. on each of those days. Each day will be dedicated to one of the four finalists, as the school seeks a replacement for its longtime president Jane Karas, who announced her retirement earlier this year.
The four finalists are Dr. Mark Browning, Dr. Daniel R. Czech, Dr. Andrew R. Fields and Dr. Deborah Kish Stephan.
Browning’s forum will take place Monday, Sept. 14. Currently the president and CEO of Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Ore., Browning spent much of his career in Montana’s neighboring state of Idaho. He earned a doctorate in higher education and community college leadership from Idaho State University before serving in vice presidential positions at North Idaho College and the College of Western Idaho.
Czech, the dean of the University of Mississippi’s school of applied sciences, will field the public’s questions at FVCC on Sept. 15. Before his work at the University of Mississippi, Czech was the dean of Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Health Sciences. He holds a PhD in performance psychology from the University of Tennessee.
Fields is slated to appear at FVCC Sept. 16. He currently serves as CEO of the University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene, and has 25 years of higher education experience at schools in California and Washington. He holds a Doctor of Education degree in educational administration and leadership from the University of the Pacific, a Master of Business Administration in executive leadership, and trade credentials in welding and industrial technologies.
And Stephan, currently the president of Hillsborough College’s Brandon Campus in Florida, will round out the forums on Sept. 17. Stephan, who has also served in vice president positions at Northwest Florida State College and at the National Division of Rio Salado College, holds a Juris Doctor in business law from the University of Florida. She also holds a Doctor of Education degree and a Master of Business Administration degree.
The four finalists were selected following a national search led by the Association of Community College Trustees. Callie Langhor, the chair of FVCC’s board, has previously emphasized the search was meant to be a “collaborative process.” As it has conducted its search, the college has asked for public input on building the profile it used to screen candidates and aimed to include a broad swath of voices on its presidential search committee, which helped to select the four finalists.
FVCC’s board of trustees will have the final say in choosing a new president, a job it aims to complete by the end of September as Karas transitions out of her role at the year’s end.