Though not exclusive and not alone, El Camino College tends to hire outside consulting companies to assemble a pool of candidates, usually from outside areas, to fill vacant administrator positions.
ECC administrators, as well as the Board of Trustees, should keep in mind the capable, qualified and deserving employees already in house and support academic programs instead of paying for costly consultants.
The college has been contracting with PPL Pros, Inc., a consulting firm founded by retired community college executives in 1978, since 2020.
Fees for PPL Pros’ services have ranged from $15,000 to $35,500, and more recently $27,457 a month — based on a daily fee of $1,193 in January — when Bob Miller from PPL was contracted to serve as special assistant to the superintendent/president and professional expert on Administrative Services.
Miller’s contract was extended monthly until April 29, when he entered into an employment agreement as a classified administrator for the position of interim vice president of Administrative Services/assistant superintendent-retired annuitant-extra help.
His contract runs through Dec. 31, with an option to extend the agreement for an additional six months as needed.
All of this may not be unusual for a community college seeking to fill vacancies. However, reading through PPL’s website reveals that Miller is not only vice president and secretary, but also one of the owners.
Why ECC would hire one of the owners of a consulting company that on more than one occasion has chosen candidates for ECC to hire from is difficult to comprehend.
This time, they chose themselves.
Furthermore, in February, the El Camino Community College District contracted with PPL for the services of six subcontractors to assist with a variety of issues from March 3 to Aug. 31, with the option to extend the agreement for the completion of the services, for a total cost of $212,856.
This gives the impression that El Camino administrators are not capable or not qualified to fill the vacancies on their own.
Even worse, this gives the impression that ECC administrators think that there is no one at ECC or in the South Bay that is qualified to fill the position. This is concerning.
On a rare occasion in recent years, a next-in-line candidate was selected to fill a vacant, permanent position.
Dean of Humanities Scott Kushigemachi, former associate dean of Humanities, was rightfully promoted after former Dean of Humanities Debra Breckheimer retired in June 2023.
With the exception of the vice president of Human Resources, the Top 6 administrators at ECC — superintendent/president, assistant superintendent and four vice presidents have been at ECC for less than five years, but still have enough experience to rely on their own expertise.
President Brenda Thames has led the college since July 1, 2021. Vice President of Academic Affairs Carlos Lopez has been at ECC since Aug. 1, 2022. Vice President of Human Resources Jane Miyashiro has been at ECC since July 3, 2017. Vice President of Student Services Jeff Stephenson has been at ECC since July 2023.
The VP position for Administrative Services was vacated after Bob Suppelsa, who served from June 2022 to December 2024, left ECC. He was a candidate previously selected by PPL Pros.
The position is now filled by interim placements — Miller, in addition to Loïc Audusseau, formerly the Chief Technology Officer at ECC.
In contrast, as of March 10, interim Athletic Director Abi Francisco is filling the void left by former Athletic Director Jeffrey Miera, who left ECC for Cerritos College, as others in the Athletics Department have done in the past.
Francisco has proven to be an asset to the department and the college with her years of dedicated service.
There’s no need to pay consultants to fill a position at ECC. Save the money for academic programs and promote more next-in-line Warriors into administrator positions.
