El Camino College hosted an open forum via Zoom with the two final candidates for the Vice President of Administrative Services position on April 6.

Daniel Villanueva and Robert Suppelsa, the two candidates chosen by the college’s search committee, each had their own public forums.

Each candidate answered questions to make their case on why they would be the best choice for the position.

The forums were moderated by Guy Lease who is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of executive recruiting firm PPL Pros Incorporated, which El Camino hired to fill the position’s vacancy.

The former Vice President of Administrative Services Iris Ingram resigned from the position around July 2021 after accepting a new position as Vice-Chancellor in the Rancho Santiago community college district, said director of public information Kerri Webb.

The position has remained vacant, with two different individuals serving as interim vice presidents performing the duties of the vice president temporarily.

Ann Tomlinson was acting Vice President until Dec. 1 of last year. She was replaced by Loic Audusseau who is still the interim Vice President of Administrative services and will remain so until one of the two candidates is finalized

During Wednesday’s Zoom meetings, both candidates had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the college community and address their possible constituents’ questions.

In his introduction, Villanueva emphasized his community roots. Born and raised in East L.A. to immigrant parents, Villanueva said he is a product of the community college system.

“I had to commute in the evenings to three campuses,” he said. “East Los Angeles College, Rio Hondo and Pasadena City College to be able to get my 12 units, so I identify with our student population.”

Villanueva also emphasized his experience working in financial administrative positions for the L.A. Unified School District, private non-profits and the L.A County Office of Education.

Currently, Villanueva is working for El Camino College.

“[My career choices] subsequently resulted in being hired at El Camino to work there in administrative services, to work on a variety of projects that I’ve been doing since October,” Villanueva said.

During Suppelsa’s forum, on the other hand, the candidate introduced himself by discussing his professional and academic accomplishments.

Suppelsa’s educational background includes three master’s degrees in the fields of management, school business administration and investments.

“I’m a proven and successful business and professional administrator with over 30 years of experience in education,” Suppelsa said. “I have started organizations from a blank piece of paper, I’ve staffed them and made them an integral part of the campus and the functions.”

As a resident of the South Bay area for over 50 years, Suppelsa ended his introduction by referencing his history with the community and clarifying that if given the position he would listen first.

Villanueva and Suppella were given the same nine questions supplied by the public but curated by the search committee.

An early question that generated distinct answers from both candidates concerned what would be each candidate’s top priorities in their first six months if given the position.

Suppella’s response once again emphasized that “his most important skill is to listen”.

“As a direct report to the President, I’m basically going to start with asking her what she wants as her priorities, and then set about figuring out the right way to work on those priorities,” Suppella said.

Villanueva’s answer to the question, however, was more direct.

“Well, currently in administrative services at El Camino there are some key positions that need to be filled,” Villanueva said. “So we definitely would want to fill the positions such as director of procurement, director of risk management and to fill the vacancies within the Department of Accounting Budget and Finance.

Other highlight responses included Suppelsa’s answer to how he would approach Student Services funding.

“It’s often assumed that your educational budget is a fixed amount and to get more resources in one division, a different division has to lose resources,” Suppelsa said. “I personally believe in trying to make the pie bigger, rather than cutting the same size pie in different ways.”

When asked to provide an example of how he has streamlined or improved a process in previous roles, Villanueva said that currently at El Camino, he is working on streamlining the procurement process to prevent bottlenecks when it comes to important services.

With the open forums finished, the next step for both candidates is a one-on-one interview with President Thames followed by a board of trustees deliberation.

Although the search committee and Board of Trustees have input, ultimately, the final decision will be left to the president.

While there is no confirmed date for a final choice, a decision could come as early as April 18, in time for the next scheduled Board of Trustees meeting.

Editor’s Note: Correction made to Loic Audusseau’s title on April 8, 2022, at 7:26 p.m.