As President Tom Fallo moves into retirement at the end of the calendar year, El Camino has been searching for his successor, with plans for appointment of the new president in October.

EC has put together a search committee to find a new president, made up of faculty, community, and ASO members; just a few of the 21 people who were named at the board of trustees meeting back in April.

The board of trustees will appoint the new president, and Vice President of the board Ken Brown spoke about what the board is looking for in potential candidates.

“Someone who will help grow our district, someone who understands the community. We have one of the most diverse districts in the state,” Brown said.

EC has also enlisted the help of the Community College Search Services (CCSS) firm to search for potential candidates.

According to their website, “CCSS executive search consultants are highly experienced and successful community college leaders who are now dedicated to assisting districts in identifying, recruiting and hiring top-level executives for a college or district.”

CCSS Managing Partner, James Walker, spoke at the board meeting on Sept. 8, and has been working very closely with the committee.

“It’s been a pleasure working with the committee, they are a group of hard-working individuals,” said Walker.

Walker is not at liberty to disclose any candidates’ information, which is confidential.

All committee members have signed non-disclosure agreements, meaning they’re legally bonded to not speak about the selection process.

“We received an above average number of candidates, and the candidates were of excellent quality,” Walker said.

The process of finding the new president is currently in the middle stages. The search committee has already met three times, and will be interviewing and selecting finalists on Sept. 11-12, according to a timeline on the El Camino website.

Then, the board of trustees also called for a special board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16 to discuss the final step in the process, the board interviews/forum.

“The board will handle all the logistics for the forums,” Vice President of Human Resources, Linda Beam said.

The forums will be open to the public and are a “place for the students to meet the candidates,” Beam added.

The public forums are scheduled for the week of Sept. 28. The board will determine exact dates for interviews during their special board meeting next week, Beam said.

For more information on the presidential search, students can check the informational page on www.elcamino.edu/presidential-search.