The Southwestern College Governing Board has selected seven finalists for consideration to fill two vacant positions on the board.
In a special meeting Monday, the board narrowed the field from 25 applicants based upon personal speeches given by each applicant in open session. The Governing Board will make their final selection at the Feb. 16 public meeting.
“Our seven finalists represent the talent and diversity of our entire college community,” said Governing Board President Leticia Cazares. “Our students would be served extremely well by any one of these community leaders.”
The Southwestern College Governing Board currently has two vacant board positions because former trustees Nora Vargas and Tim Nader won regional elected positions in the November 2020 election.
The Governing Board has 60 days from the board members’ resignations to fill the vacancies. At their Jan. 4 meeting, the board approved filling the vacancies through a provisional appointment process.
The seven finalists are:
Christine Antoine
Antoine has recently worked in the President’s Office at CSU, San Marcos as the director of government relations. The two pressing issues that face Southwestern College, Antoine said, are budget and campus culture.
Lyn Price Corbett
For the last four years Corbett has worked as the director of governance and community programs at the University of San Diego’s Nonprofit Institute. The most pressing issues facing Southwestern College are outlined in the state Chancellor’s Vision for Success, Corbett said in his application, addressing completion units and reducing equity gaps.
Don Dumas
Dumas is a teacher at Bonita Vista High School who was recently recognized as a San Diego County Teacher of the Year. He is also a Boys Varsity Basketball Ball Head Coach at Bonita Vista High. Dumas said the most pressing issues facing Southwestern are budget, racial issues facing Black students and employees, and enrollment.
Kirin Macapugay
Macapugay is a social work/community services professor at San Diego City College. She believes the most pressing issues facing Southwestern College are the state’s funding formula’s impact on part-time vs full-time students, the allegations of racist mistreatment at the college and the stressors of working from home by students and employees.
Carmen Sandoval
Sandoval is a retired public administrator with extensive experience serving on several non-profit organizations. She believes Southwestern College’s designation as an Hispanic-Serving Institution can be perceived as not as welcoming to non-Latino groups, the significant number of part-time students can be a challenge to keeping students engaged and embracing the opportunities of our binational region.
Nesha Savage
Savage is a dean of student development and matriculation and personal growth at San Diego City College. She believes Southwestern College’s challenges include the unanticipated transition to online learning in response to COVID-19, declining enrollment because of COVID-19’s impacts and the racial issues that have impacted students and employees at the college.
Xavier Soriano
Known as “Xavier, the X-Man,” Soriano is a local radio personality. He believes the greatest challenges facing Southwestern College are the racial tensions on campus along with students’ economic insecurity.
For the full applications of each of the applicants, head to the BoardDocs agenda item for the Feb. 8 Governing Board meeting.
