SPSCC announces finalists for its president post

Five finalists have been chosen to interview for South Puget Sound Community College's top post, officials announced today.

SPSCC's Presidential Search Advisory Committee chose six finalists of a pool of 29 candidates; however one of the applicants withdrew for personal reasons, according to a news release.

The finalists are: Douglas W. Allen, president of Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn.; Sandra A. Fowler-Hill, executive vice president of instruction and student services at Everett Community College in Everett; Larry Galizio, president of Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Ore.; David M. Smith, vice president of instruction and student affairs at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colo., and Timothy S. Stokes, executive vice president for academic and student affairs at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma.

The candidates will be scheduled for tours of the campus, meetings with staff, faculty and community members and interviews with the Board of Trustees in early December.

“The high-caliber candidates reflect not only the excellence in the (search) committee’s work, but the quality and reputation of the college,” Judy Blinn, chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a news release. “The board has an important and challenging task ahead in choosing among these highly qualified individuals for the next president of this respected institution.”

In May, SPSCC president Gerald Pumphrey announced that he will retire in January. He has been at the college’s helm since Aug. 2006.