Former MCC Board Chair Lori Van Dusen says that she was acting within board guidelines when she appointed a committee to look for a new president. The board's bylaws give the board chair the responsibility for appointing committees, Van Dusen said in a statement at today's board meeting. And, she said, previous board chairs followed that practice - including John Parrinello, who has charged that the full board should have approved the appointment of the search committee.

Van Dusen said she also acted within the board's guidelines when she hired Dr. David Ponitz, a consultant, to help with the search,

Like other board members - with the exception of Parrinello - Van Dusen has declined to be interviewed about the controversy over the presidential search. She had originally not planned to attend today's meeting, but she attended and, in a statement read to the board, said she felt a need "to share some facts in order to ensure the general public's confidence in our process."

Following the board meeting, Van Dusen provided the following statement to City Newspaper (some of which was included in her address to the board):

"The MCC Board of Trustees' bylaws clearly give the responsibility for appointing committees to the Chair of the Board. This practice has been followed for several years by all of my predecessors, including Mr. Parrinello, and most recently by my successor. I discussed proposed search committee members with many trustees, including the executive committee, which was made up of Board Vice Chair Rich Guon, Personnel and Programs Committee Chair Rich Warshof, and Finance and Facilities Chair Mike Nuccitelli.

"Further, Board members discussed the idea of adding additional trustees to the search committee; however, there were mixed opinions on the need to do so. I took the discussion one step further and accepted nominations of Mr. Goode and Mr. Parrinello as additional committee members and asked board members to indicate their preference via e-mail. The vote was split.

"Given the lack of consensus, I opted not to add any additional trustees to the search committee. However, I did add two additional search committee members (non-trustees), as recommended by some board members. Our search liaison from SUNY affirmed that as long as MCC's process filled the intent and spirit of the SUNY guidelines and ensured for diverse constituency representation (students, faculty, community, local sponsor, etc.), our search committee and the process by which it was constituted were acceptable.

"In selecting a search consultant, I reviewed potential consultants with various members of the Board Executive Committee. The Executive Committee was comprised of Mr. Guon, Vice Chair; Mr. Nuccitelli, Chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee, and Mr. Warshof, Chair of the Personnel and Programs Committee.

"Our initial positive impression of Dr. Ponitz's experience as a community college president and in conducting over 65 national searches was validated when the Board Executive Committee met with him. Board members were informed of the search consultant's fee at a board meeting. Per college policy, the contract was signed by President Flynn.

"I hope, starting today, we can move forward in interviewing our four finalists and selecting the best, most qualified leader for Monroe Community College. As trustees, it is our responsibility to do so, and we owe as much to this community."