No takers as Merced College calls for input on president search

More than three dozen chairs were set out for people interested in shaping Merced College’s search for a new president. Not one of them was used.

The information-gathering forum at Rivera Middle School late Thursday afternoon was the second such event to go unattended this week, according to college staffers. A meeting held Tuesday in Le Grand also attracted no one.

The public forums, the first two of seven scheduled to be held through the end of July, have been organized to gather public input into what the college should look for as it searches for a permanent president.

College leaders brushed off the lack of attendance as a sign of the times.

The college is seeing input being channeled through online platforms, according to college trustee Wayne Hicks, who was at the Thursday forum.

“We get hits on the website,” he said. “I was told we had several. We’re getting some action there.”

It was unclear exactly how many people have used a college email address, ceo.search@mccd.edu, set up specifically for input, but it’s fewer than 50, according to Tracie Green, the school’s human resources director.

The college, which enrolled nearly 4,200 full-time students as of last fall, has been without a permanent leader since Ron Taylor was placed on paid leave in January. College leaders gave no explanation for the move. The board named Susan Walsh, the Learning Resource Center director, as the temporary replacement.

Not everyone believes the school is truly interested in gathering public input. Megan Igo, the vice president of the Merced Faculty Association, said she had not heard about the community forums even though she is working on campus this summer and lives in Merced.

“I haven’t heard about it at all,” she said Friday. “I don’t know how – if I’m a faculty (member) and a resident and I’m not hearing about it – how they expect people to show up.”

Igo said the school has “absolutely” not done enough to gather opinion. “Community input is not their interest,” she said.

Walsh’s six months as acting president have been bumpy as the college has butted heads with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, which oversaw campus police for 16 years.

Sheriff Vern Warnke accused Walsh of using the police as a “strong arm” for “political” purposes. Walsh has declined several requests from the Merced Sun-Star to discuss the allegations, which the college has denied through a spokesman.

Since ending its contract with the sheriff’s office at the end of June, the college has been working with the Merced Police Department to oversee the campus officers.

College staffers said Thursday that efforts have been made to invite residents to the forums, promoting them on a local radio show, with fliers, on its website and in an announcement that accompanied water bills, according to Green.

She said the college will put together a search committee of about a dozen people who will study the candidates. The deadline has passed for those looking to join the committee, she said, but the trustees could still recommend committee members.

Green said the committee demands a time commitment. “(The forums) are for people who may not have the time but they would like to have input or a voice,” she said.

Five more forums are set, one each in Merced, Atwater, Livingston, Los Banos and Chowchilla.

The college continues to gather input at ceo.search@mccd.edu. For more information, call 209-384-6100.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "No takers as Merced College calls for input on president search."