Las Positas President looking for a new job | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | PleasantonWeekly.com |

Local Blogs

Tim Talk

By Tim Hunt

E-mail Tim Hunt

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

View all posts from Tim Hunt

Las Positas President looking for a new job

Uploaded: Oct 24, 2012
Las Positas College President Kevin Walthers is actively seeking a new position and on his way out at the Livermore college.
That's the report posted by the Las Positas Express, the college's newspaper, in a news article and an editorial this month. His impending departure continues the revolving door since Karen Halliday retired a few years ago.
After Halliday retired to her vineyard in the Willamette Valley of central Oregon, Bob Kratochvil, the chief finance officer for the college, led Las Positas very well as the interim president, but was not a candidate for the official appointment. Chancellor Joel Kinnamon and the Board of Trustees selected DeRionne Pollard for the president. She was excellent, but departed in less than two years for the top job in a bigger college on the East Coast.
That brought on another interim president and the eventual selection of Walthers after a process that saw the first group of finalists rejected because there was not a suitable candidate. The job was then re-advertised and Walthers was named from a second group of finalists.
In the mean time, Kratochvil was determined not to be eligible for the president's post the second time around (and another interim president was brought on board) because he didn't have a doctorate degree—the classic case of ranking academic credentials over demonstrated leadership. He's since departed and is now president of Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, while continuing work to finish his doctorate. It's a classic case of educrats being more concerned about advanced degrees than quality leadership.
That leaves Las Positas and the trustees and their interim chancellor, Judy Walters, with two top jobs of fill. Former Chancellor Kinnamon departed earlier this year after six years at the helm to accept the presidency of the College of the Desert in the Coachella Valley, a downward career move.
As the Express editorial opined, there's clearly been something way out of line in the recruitment and interview process at Las Positas and the same is true of Chabot, which also has had a revolving door. These recommendations and the leadership churn may well have figured in Kinnamon's decision to depart for dryer pastures in the Coachella Valley.
Trustees and senior staff have followed seemingly exhaustive processes to recruit key leaders. It would be wise to start with a few basics that both the new chancellor and the new Las Positas president need to be experienced in California. California financing and other requirements are unique and expecting an out-of-state person (even one as qualified as Pollard) to adjust well is asking too much.
In addition, the Express advisor, Melissa Korber and her senior editors need to hold up a mirror and ask themselves how well the down-and-dirty reporting and commentary served the school. Reporting that the president is moving on is necessary and appropriate. Digging into tawdry details without responses from the outgoing president served no one well.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by T-Vall123, a resident of Livermore,
on Oct 26, 2012 at 12:38 am

T-Vall123 is a registered user.

Did the writer (Tim Hunt) even read the article? Clearly not, since the article clearly states that Walthers and other faculty were interviewed, along with a photo.

Here's an excerpt from the article and a link below:

Walthers said he wasn?t aware of the disapproval. He said he thought people were really just frustrated with the budget. In his interview with The Express, the president was asked if there was a disconnect between himself and the academic senate.

?I guess so,? he said. ?You?re asking me about things which I have no idea about. You might as well be asking me what?s going on with the Obama campaign.?

At that point, Walthers stood up, said ?there?s no point in answering anymore questions? and abruptly walked out.



Web Link


Follow this blogger.
Sign up to be notified of new posts by this blogger.

Email:

SUBMIT

Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.

Stay informed.

Get the day's top headlines from PleasantonWeekly.com sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.

Common Ground
By Sherry Listgarten | 3 comments | 1,606 views

Labor unions win big in Sacramento
By Tim Hunt | 8 comments | 1,226 views