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Carl R. Powell

Search for IT chief concludes

By Andrew Flohr-Spence
spencand@mscd.edu

Metro’s search for a qualified vice president of information technology may be at an end. President Stephen Jordan announced on Feb. 18 that, pending approval from the board of trustees, Carl R. Powell will assume responsibility for the college’s computers and technology beginning March 1.

Powell, who has a Ph.D. in education from Cleveland University and 23 years of experience working with computers, will be IT’s first nontemporary vice president in almost six years.

“We are really excited to have Dr. Powell on board,” said Cathy Lucas, Metro’s assistant vice president of communications. Lucas said that while Metro has been fortunate to have several competent interim vice presidents, the college would benefit from having a full-time, highly qualified chief information officer.

Turbulent times

Powell will fill a position that has, in many ways, paralleled Metro’s turbulent past decade.

The position, along with many others within the administration and faculty, was terminated in 2003 after a $7 million state funding reduction forced budget cutbacks at Metro. The same year, Colorado’s governor signed into law a bill removing Metro from the governing board of state colleges and establishing Metro’s current board of trustees. Many say this move initially caused uneasiness among the college’s faculty and staff, and may have contributed to the numerous subsequent vacancies. By December 2003, six vice president positions were open and the college had an interim president.

A year later, the IT position was reinstated by interim Metro president Ray Kieft, who appointed George Middlemist as interim vice president of the office until the college could make a nationwide search.

That search took four years.

Steve Beaty, the current interim, took over in August 2007 when Middlemist moved to the office of administration and finance. Beaty reportedly took the job only on the condition that it would be temporary. He likes being a professor, according to a press release from the school’s website. Beaty did not respond to The Metropolitan’s attempts to contact him.

Finding the right candidate

The applicants for the 2007 process included two Metro staff members. Rick Cisneros is the college’s current director of technical services. He has worked for Metro’s IT department since 1987, and is the present assistant vice president of IT. Yvonne Flood, who has more than 28 years experience at Metro, eight of those within the IT department, also applied.

The search committee didn’t think some candidates, including Cisneros and Flood, were right for the job, and other candidates withdrew their names from the running. From a reported 108 candidates in spring 2007, the college finally called off the interview session June 20 when they hadn’t found a match and the last candidate canceled.

Jordan wrote in an e-mail to faculty and staff during July 2007 that, while there were two fine internal candidates for the position, he believed the post required someone with both higher education and corporate experience.

And then there were two

Again the school began the search process. From a group of almost 100 qualified candidates in November 2007, four were selected to interview in person at the end of January. Then two of the four dropped out less than a week before the interviews were scheduled.

Selection committee member Natalie Lutes, Metro’s chief financial officer, said the two finalists that interviewed were both very qualified.

The last candidate the committee interviewed was Powell, and after the committee talked to him it was clear they had found the one.

“I don’t know if it was an ‘aha’ moment, but I think it was a very positive moment,” Lutes said. She added that while both were highly qualified, Powell’s experience made the difference. Lutes said that while she was happy the school had filled the position, the school had not suffered without a full-time person.

“It does feel good to know that this is the ongoing person we’re going to be working with,” she said.

Powell has the right mix of experience and certification, having worked as a technology consultant for several businesses and earned a master’s in computer science and a Ph.D. in education, Lutes said. He also was vice president of a community college district from 2000 to 2006.

“I think he is a good fit for Metro just because he’s in his culture here – he comes from a community college, he seems to really identify with the kind of students we have, the kind of employees we have,” Lutes said. “I saw him as a good fit. He’s good.”