Peninsula College president to interview for Florida job in March

PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College President Tom Keegan will interview for the top job at St. Petersburg College in Florida from March 30 to April 1.

The interview process will include visits to all of the college’s locations and meetings with students, staff, the community and the college’s board of trustees.

In addition to hearing public comment at meetings, the college is also asking the community to comment on the candidates via e-mail, according to its Web site, www.spcollege.edu.

According to the schedule on the Web site, Keegan will have public meetings from 12:45 p.m. to late in the evening on March 30; throughout the morning, afternoon and evening on March 31; and in the morning and afternoon on April 1 — ending with the official interview by the board.

Keegan, 51, was selected for the interview by the board Feb. 12.

The other three finalists will have similar schedules and meetings between now and April 8, the college’s Web site said.

Keegan earns about $165,000 annually at Peninsula College, which has about 1,560 full-time students. Since many students are part time, the college may serve up to 10,000 students per year.

Keegan said St. Petersburg College, which serves about 65,000 students and offers several four-year degrees, hasn’t set a salary range for the job and that pay would be negotiated.

The current president of the college in St. Petersburg, Carl Kuttler Jr., is paid $388,000 annually, according to a January story in The Tampa Tribune.

Kuttler is retiring after serving since 1978.

The other finalists are Paula Gastenveld, 56, assistant to the chancellor, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which has 16 colleges; Bill Law, 61, president of Tallahassee Community College; and Kaye Walter, 55, chief learning officer, Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla.

Keegan tied with Law as the search committee’s top choice.

Keegan applied for the post in November.

He has served as Peninsula College president since 2001.

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