JOLIET – Judy Mitchell was formally approved Tuesday as Joliet Junior College interim president by the Board of Trustees after the resignation of former President Debra Daniels in March.
The vote was not unanimous at Tuesday’s meeting. Board Vice Chairman Andrew Mihelich asked about the terms and conditions of Mitchell’s appointment as interim, something he said should have been solidified.
“I just believe we should have discussed this before we voted,” he said.
Trustees Maureen Broderick and Michael O’Connell were in favor of Mitchell’s appointment. Broderick said it would be beneath the trustees to not appoint someone as experienced as Mitchell. O’Connell wanted Mitchell to have a chance to “get comfortable.”
“Give her a chance to get comfortable. She’s got a lot of garbage to clean up. We’ve had turmoil since last May and we need to get on a positive direction,” he said.
Mihelich and Trustee Alicia Morales were the only two to vote against Mitchell’s appointment. Mitchell, the school’s former administrative services vice president, has served as acting president since trustees received a resignation notice from Daniels on March 18.
Faculty Union President Robert Marcink said in his report at the meeting that faculty members are comfortable with Mitchell and have worked with Mitchell for a long time.
“We will do whatever we can to work with you to make the transition smooth and do what we need to do because we know these are challenging times,” Marcink said.
Board Chairman Robert Wunderlich said there will be a presidential search and that criteria and a list of consultants for the search would be put together. Unlike the presidential search in 2011, he said the college will not use the Association of Community College Trustees, as they were too expensive and JJC did most of the work.
Mihelich said at Tuesday’s meeting he was advised Mitchell was not interested in applying to become JJC president, but Wunderlich said Mitchell wanted to leave the option open, which she affirmed.
ACCT assisted JJC in September 2011 for $30,000 – plus travel expenses – as the college searched for a new leader following the death of Gena Proulx. The search ended that December and Daniels was chosen to be president.
At the time, former board Chairman Jeff May said the timeline for the 2011 search was too tight and the search committee needed more community members.
Daniels abruptly resigned in March, stating in an email that she had brought the college “as far as I can and I want to step aside so I can do other things.” She also stated the board has been tumultuous with the resignation of three trustees and she hopes “this will allow them to come together for the college.”
Trustees approved Daniels’ resignation and settlement at a March 29 meeting. The settlement, which will pay Daniels $196,270 for a year, acknowledged disputed claims between she and the college. Daniels will also receive health insurance benefits for a year under the settlement.
Daniels and the board agreed to keep terms and content of the settlement confidential.
Wunderlich indicated when Daniels resigned that a climate survey of JJC had a “little bit to do with” Daniels’ resignation but that she had her own personal reasons for leaving.
The climate survey was conducted by law firm Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol and interviewed 25 JJC administrators on a range of topics, including personnel matters, Wunderlich has said.
Board trustees approved Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol to provide general legal services for the college after dismissing the college’s previous attorneys, Robbin Schwartz. Wunderlich has said the trustees were not happy with the law firm’s performance.
