Long Beach Community College Board of Trustee President, Uduak-Joe Ntuk, announced Mike Munoz, VP of student services, as the new Interim-President on March 1, 2021.
The decision to resume the search for a Superintendent-President next spring was finalized since Munoz will be filling the role as interim president until the end of his contract set for June 30, 2022.
The former Interim-President, Lou Anne Bynum, and the Board of Trustees couldn’t come to an agreement in regards to extending her contract. The contract disagreement was not expected from the Trustees.
When asked why they couldn’t come to an agreement in her contract, Ntuk said, “We can’t speak on HR (human resources) issues or contract issues.”
The pandemic has made it a challenge in searching for a new superintendent-president.
“I think the pandemic has found it difficult and record retirement of superintendents can be a contributing cause. There is a 10% increase in superintendent-presidents retiring according to the CA League of Community Colleges,” said Ntuk.
Since all activity for the search has been paused the only thing that remains is the current search firm PPL Inc., which LBCC is using to help search for the superintendent position. The firm provides immediate attention to interim, executive search, or educational consulting needs according to their website.
Vivian Malauulu, Board of Trustee for Area 2, was part of the Superintendent-Presidential search hiring back in 2017 for former Superintendent-President Reagan Romali, who served as president until her firing last year on March 4, 2020.
When asked what the Board collectively learned from the last hiring, Malauulu said, “I can’t speak for anyone else but I learned all that all that glitters is not gold. During the last hiring I really wanted someone with the “wow factor,” and someone to come to the district with energy and enthusiasm.”
When asked the same, Ntuk said, “There are new board goals which can be found in the board meeting notes that are available to the public. We’ve discussed it at open-sessions and board meetings.”
The updated goals discussed in the Jan. 2021 Board Meeting are the following; innovate to achieve equitable success, accelerate college readiness and close equity gaps, build community and invest in people and support structures for transformation.
In regards to the hiring process, Malauulu said, “The process is just fine and the search committee did fine but for myself – can’t speak on other board members. The Board of Trustees President and VP are the ones to speak about any issues concerning the board.”
In a message to the LBCC Campus Community, Ntuk said, “We want to ensure that we have enough time to find the absolute best final candidate for Long Beach City College. Because that’s what you, our students, faculty, classified and managers, all deserve — the best.”