WXXI: First MCC Presidential Candidate Visits Rochester (2009-04-13)

Officials, staff and students of Monroe Community College started getting to know the three finalists for the job of MCC President this week.

The first to visit Rochester is Dr. Kevin Drumm, a man with 30 years of experience in teaching and higher education. He's currently president of the Northern Wyoming Community College District, and he says he was surprised to be nominated for the job by Doctor George Boggs of the American Association of Community Colleges. Drumm says he knows retired MCC President Tom Flynn, and he knew about the dispute over last year's failed search to replace him. He says he was "floored" to be recommended for the job.

Dr. Drumm says the first thing he wanted to find out was whether MCC's national reputation for excellence was justified -- he says it is. He says the first thing the college's trustees wanted to know from him is how he would handle a growing student body with no increase in budget. Drumm says that's a national issue for community colleges as more people turn to them for affordable education during the recession, while that same recession is cutting into their financial support. Drumm says MCC is well run, but if he gets the president's job he'll work for more efficiency while beating the bushes for more funding. Dr. Drumm also says a community college can't have too many partnerships with local businesses and community agencies -- limited only by the need not to overtax the staff.

There are two more candidates to be interviewed this week: Dr. Gordon May and Dr. Anne Kress. MCC wants to have its new president named by the end of April and on the job in July.

Drumm comes originally from the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, north of Albany. He says the desire to get back to this region was a factor in deciding to answer the recruiter's call to apply for the MCC Presidency.

MCC is more than three times the size of the Northern Wyoming Community College District. But Drumm says his college has two campuses and smaller facilities spread over an area the size of Massachusetts, so it presents its own management challenges. Dr. Drumm says he relies heavily on his vice-presidents, just as he would do at MCC.