Who will be the next president of Cochise College?

That question was to be weighed today by the college’s governing board during closed-door interviews with three finalists for the position.

“It is because we impact our students like no other aspect of higher education,” said candidate Tina Ludutsky-Taylor, explaining her passion for the work during a public forum Monday in the Sierra Vista campus’ library commons.

Ludutsky-Taylor of Santa Fe, N.M., Blaine Nisson of Roseburg, Ore., and James Dale “J.D.” Rottweiler of Riverton, Wyo., each participated in a 50-minute question-and-answer session that was duplicated on the Douglas campus.

About 60 people attended each of the Sierra Vista forums, which started in the morning. The Douglas forums were said by one college official to be smaller but no less intense than those held in Sierra Vista.

The forums started at 8:30 a.m., and by late Monday afternoon the candidates were still undergoing grilling — this time with the college deans and senior administrators in a closed session at the library.

“From a student perspective, I’m thrilled with the candidates that we have,” said Cochise College graduate Melany Edwards-Barton, who attended all of the Sierra Vista forums and asked each of the candidates to explain how they get involved with students.

“It’s all about students,” Rottweiler told her, noting that he tries to teach a class every year so that he will learn students’ names and know what faculty challenges are. He later explained his management style to another questioner: “You will find my style is an open door and a lot of wandering.”

Edwards-Barton was the student representative of Cochise College’s presidential search committee. The Sierra Vista woman is now a full-scholarship transfer student at Northern Arizona University, undergoing distance learning from Tucson as she completes her bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“They are all very different, but they have wonderful qualities, and they seem student-centered,” Edwards-Barton said.

Many of the forums’ attendees appeared to be staff members of the college. There were a few faculty members and a number of people from the community. Their questions covered a broad range of topics, from aviation to legislatures to fundraising and much more.

Trevor Smith, a librarian with Cochise College, asked each candidate about their views on college libraries and changing technologies.

“I think we’re in a very enviable position,” Smith said afterward. “I think all three of the candidates that I’ve seen and asked questions of today are just exemplary.”

Holly Suarez, an adviser for the Fort Huachuca Army Education Center, wanted to know how each candidate would respond to the military’s needs. The fort has more than 6,000 students in the military intelligence program who are simultaneously advancing their college educations with help from Cochise College. Nisson recognized the fort has “unique needs,” but he admitted he had never worked in a military community before.

Judy Gignac, a community businesswoman and civic leader, had a number of questions for the candidates.

She asked Nisson why he wanted to leave Roseburg.

Like the other two candidates, Nisson said Cochise College is an excellent institution that matches his career goals.

Nisson also explained that his wife, Bev, who sat in the front row of his forums, has put her own career as an ultrasound technologist on the back burner for the last five years.

Roseburg is about half the size of Sierra Vista, and its healthcare system does not have a full position for her.

Gignac seemed satisifed by that answer.

“I recognize the benefit of having a good place for the spouse,” she said

Bob Howell, Cochise College’s vice president for human resources, has spearheaded the search for college President Karen Nicodemus’ replacement since she announced last year that she would retire this summer.

Howell has consulted with the Association of Community College Trustees (see acct.org), which helped Cochise College search for candidates and trim the first wave of applicants down to eight semi-finalists. The local search committee then further winnowed that list down to the final three.

After each of the six forums held Monday, the audience members were asked to write down strengths, weaknesses and an overall impression on feedback sheets.

Howell and Pam Fisher from ACCT planned to summarize and report that feedback to the governing board today.

The following three candidates have been named as finalists for president of Cochise College:

Tina Ludutsky-Taylor, Ph.D.

Ludutsky-Taylor currently serves as a special adviser to the Office of Continuing Education at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Ludutsky-Taylor is a founding staff member of SFCC and served in various roles from 1983 to 1991.

She served as a vice president of Front Range Community College’s Boulder County Campus in Longmont, Colo., and as a founding administrator of Sierra Community College District’s Nevada County Campus in Grass Valley, Calif. Her background includes positions as counselor, faculty member, chief student services officer, academic/technical program division head, chief instructional officer, and chief facilities and construction officer.

Blaine Nisson, Ed.D.

Nisson has served as president of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., since 2004. He previously served as vice president of student development and as acting president at Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. He served as the dean of student development at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus and dean of students at Centralia College in Washington and has held administrative positions at Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon and Idaho State University.

He is a past president of the National Council on Student Development and currently serves on the American Association of Community Colleges Workforce and Economic Development Commission and Licensure Committee.

James Dale (J.D.) Rottweiler, Ph.D.

Rottweiler is executive vice president for academic services and professor of sociology at Central Wyoming College. He previously served as associate dean of instruction at Western Iowa Technical Community College in Sioux City. He has been on the faculty at Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) and was an associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Salt Lake Community College.

His expertise is in cultural studies and social mobility. As executive vice president, he oversees all academic initiatives of the college, including instructional support services. He is a graduate of several leadership development programs and in 2006 was recognized as one of Wyoming’s “40 under 40,” a recognition of business people and community leaders who have made positive contributions to the State of Wyoming.

— information provided by Cochise College