At a special board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, the Grand Rapids Community College Board of Trustees announced the three finalists for the college’s next president.
Out of 78 applicants, the board officially approved three candidates who will move forward in the process: Nerita Hughes, Jason Rivera, and Kathryn Rogalski. No additional information about the candidates was released.
Trustees shared brief comments about the official candidates and the process so far.
“I really appreciate the labor, experience, and insight of our screening committee,” said Kathleen Bruinsma, Board Vice Chairperson. “They put in a lot of hours, the discussion was robust and very helpful, and I appreciate their insight a lot.”
Trustee Salvador Lopez said he believes the final candidates fit exactly what they were looking for.
“The three that I put up on the ballot reflect all of the work that went into the process,” Lopez said.
“The three that I put up… really were able to articulate through various means clarity around how they feel,” added GRCC Board Secretary Daniel Williams.
GRCC has been searching for a new leader since last spring, following the departure of former President Charles Lepper. Lepper resigned as GRCC’s president in April after it was announced that he was a candidate for president at Madison Technical College. Lepper was placed on administrative leave by the GRCC board after the board announced his finalist status to the campus community. Lepper did not get the position.
During that time, former Vice President of Finance and Administration Lisa Freiburger served as interim president until her retirement in May, when GRCC’s current interim president, Steven J. Triezenberg, came on board to lead GRCC until a permanent replacement is found.
Back in April, the Board of Trustees hired Academic Search Inc., the search firm that helped GRCC identify candidates for the role. According to a previous report by The Collegiate, GRCC agreed to pay the search firm more than $60,000 to manage the search.
Vice President for College Advancement, and Liaison Committee member for the Presidential Search Committee, Erin Van Egmond shared her excitement with the process following the announcement of the finalists and noted how significant this point of the presidential search is for the future of the college.
“I’m really excited about the three finalists,” Van Egmond said. “Seventy-eight applicants from across the country were interested in being a leader here.”
Van Egmond calls for students and the GRCC community to get involved in the next steps of identifying a candidate to fill the role.
“I encourage the students and the campus community to get engaged in the finalists’ interviews,” she said.
The finalists will be on campus for individual faculty forums on Dec. 5, Dec. 9, and Dec. 10. No specific date for each of the candidates was announced at this time. A live stream for the forums will also be provided.
Collegiate reporters Grace Holmes and Karalynn Davis contributed to this report.
