Presidential Candidates Visit Campus This Week

EvCC narrows search for finalists

Adrienne Plummer, Staff Writer|April 17, 2019

EvCC is in the final stretch of selecting a new president to replace the retiring President Beyer.

EvCC’s board of trustees has done a nationwide search for candidates and has narrowed it down to three potential hires, Dr. Karin Edwards, Dr. Warren Brown, and Dr. Daria J. Willis.

Dr. Karin Edwards is currently serving as President of the Cascade Campus of Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Edwards has served in both administrative positions and teaching positions throughout her career. During her time at Three Rivers Community College, she received a Scott Goodnight Award for outstanding service as a Dean.
Dr. Warren Brown is currently the president of North Seattle College and has been in multiple administrative positions in colleges in Washington. Dr. Brown has had his work published in the academic journals, “Community College Journal of Research and Practice” and the “Multicultural Education and Technology Journal” and was recognized as a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Daria J. Willis is the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Onondaga Community College. A lot of the work she’s done throughout her career has focused on implementing programs to help underserved students such as Weekend College and Box of Books. In 2018, she received the American Association for Women in Community Colleges’ “40 Under 40” award.

The president of a college is responsible for many things that affect the student learning environment. One example is adding new educational programs to the curricular on campus.

Forums will be held for students to attend from 12:45-1:30 p.m. in Jackson conference center room 106 on their respective visit dates, Dr. Edwards on April 17, Dr. Brown on April 18, and Dr. Willis on April 22. A full schedule is available on the EvCC website.

These forums will offer students an opportunity to ask questions and learn about each of the candidates.  Denise Gregory-Wyatt, Vice President of College Administration said in an email, “Students will be able to ask questions. They can bring their own questions and there will be a list of suggested questions on the back of the evaluation form. Personal and discriminatory questions in nature are not allowed in the forums.”

The forums will offer a chance for students to have a voice in this hiring process. Gregory-Wyatt also wrote, “Those who attend the forums will be able to complete an evaluation form and give it to HR before leaving.” These evaluations will be taken into consideration by the board of trustees when they disseminate all the information they have and make a hiring decision.

There will also be forums open to the community from 5-6 p.m. each corresponding evening at Delta Hotels, 3105 Pine St. Everett, WA. For more information, visit EvCC’s Presidential Search webpage.