Four Cerritos College dean positions are currently being offered to prospective applicants, four left vacant as a result of last year’s Golden Handshake, until Sept. 22.

Of the positions offered are the dean of academic affairs, and each division’s instructional dean for the liberal arts, technology and health occupations, respectively.

President Linda Lacy said that after the deadline they hope to have interviews in October and successful candidates presented to the Board of Trustees in November.

“If there would be a successful internal candidate, we would want them to finish the semester if they were a teacher, as an example,” she said. “And coming from other institutions usually we would probably want them to start Jan. 1, so that it doesn’t disrupt an academic semester.

“So our hope is that we would have those positions filled by the spring semester.”

Until then, Marilyn Brock will serve as the interim dean for each position.

Brock, whose long history with Cerritos spans from attending as a student to becoming dean of health occupations for three years in the mid-1990s, will once again serve as interim vice president of the college (she did so in 2008) when Bill Farmer retires from his position.

She addresses the challenge of handling multiple divisions through what she said is amazing teaching faculty and really good support personnel and notes that much of the college business these days is done through e-mail.

“E-mail requires a fairly rapid response. It also enables you to keep your fingers on a wider range of things, because you don’t have to physically be in any one location,” Brock said.

Brock said that the process of hiring a new dean includes a group of administrators, faculty, and classified employees, also mentioning that at times a student may be invited to participate.

The group looks at the paperwork, selects around three to five candidates for multiple interviews, which then leads to a sole recommendation that is forwarded to the Board of Trustees for approval; if approved the candidate is hired.

Each position has a minimum requirement of a Master’s degree in at least one discipline included in the division, and some teaching experience as well as leadership, supervisor or manager experience, preferably at the community college level.

Lacy addressed the issue of filing vacant positions versus recombining them.

“We really felt like to maintain the quality of our programs and consistency that we needed to fill those positions.”

One dean position was eliminated that wasn’t part of an academic division; the executive dean of Community, Industry and Technology Education, which helped prepare the workforce.

Lacy reassigned directors from CITE to existing deans, which, according to Lacy, led to a cost savings.

All dean positions but one were left vacant as a result of the Golden Handshake, an incentive package that allowed many Cerritos employees to retire earlier with specified benefits.

Brock said, “They were all great people and they contributed a lot to the college, and i’m sure the next generation of administrators will continue and contribute a lot to the college as well.”

The exception to the incentive package was Linda Rose, former liberal arts division dean who accepted a position as vice president of academic affairs at Santa Ana Community College.

“We’re very proud of her,” Lacy said.

Liberal arts Intermediate Typist Clerk Megalis Lopez worked with Rose and said that she was a good advocate for the students.

Lopez said, “She was here from 7 a.m. to 10, 11 o’clock at night. She always had her door open for anybody to come in, whoever needed help.

“She was always stopping what she had to do to make sure that she’d go out of her way to help students find classes or help instructors solve issues.”

Brock stayed optimistic about the new generation in the aftermath of the Golden Handshake.

“Institutions survive and they go on and be recreated as new people are brought into the environment. It’s exciting in the life of an institution, however in may be a little bit disruptive in the beginning, but it’s exciting to have new people.”