Prince George’s Community College could have a new president as soon as Thursday, according John Steinecke, chairman of the college’s board of trustees.
“It is possible that we will be able to make an announcement at our regular meeting [Thursday],” said Steinecke, who expects a decision this week.
The board is choosing between Calvin Woodland, president of Capital Community College in Hartford, Conn., and Charlene Dukes, Prince George’s Community College’s vice president for student services.
A third finalist, Edna Baehre, president of Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg, Pa., withdrew her candidacy before on-campus interviews last week.
Once Baehre’s candidacy became public, Steinecke said, the HACC community “rallied around her” and she agreed to stay.
“It’s unfortunate that she wasn’t in the mix,” Steinecke said.
But Steinecke considers Woodland and Dukes strong candidates. Last week, the pair had on-campus interviews with the board, faculty, staff, students and members of the community. “They all seemed to go really well,” he said.
After the meetings, the groups prepared comments and forwarded them to the board. “So we can balance our opinions with the opinions of the community,” Steinecke said.
Woodland and Dukes are vying to replace Ronald Williams, who will become a vice president at the College Board testing service. He has been college president since 1999.
Steinecke said the search advisory committee, which he chaired, received approximately 30 resumes and interviewed nine candidates before narrowing the pool to three.
“Just being selected as a finalist is indeed a privilege and an honor,” Woodland said. “… Prince George’s Community College enjoys an excellent reputation nationally as a fine institution.”
Woodland, a Charles County native, lived in Prince George’s from 1986 to 1990. If president, Woodland said, he would increase the college’s “visibility” and “enhance its image through marketing more strategically its academic, career and workforce development programs, which will result in increased enrollment and funding.”
