Steve Kinsella is college’s former dean of business services
With the state’s budget woes casting a shadow of uncertainty
over community college programs in the future, the Gavilan College
Board of Trustees looked to a candidate with strong business sense
and a finance background to fill its vacancy for president.
Steve Kinsella is college’s former dean of business services
With the state’s budget woes casting a shadow of uncertainty over community college programs in the future, the Gavilan College Board of Trustees looked to a candidate with strong business sense and a finance background to fill its vacancy for president.
On Wednesday night, the board unanimously chose Steve Kinsella to fill the void created when Dr. Rose Marie Joyce left the Gilroy campus on July 1.
“We were very pleased with all of the candidates,” said Gavilan Board member Mark Dover. “All of them were worthy of the presidency, but it was Steve’s background in finance and management that pushed me, personally, over the top. At this junction, I felt that we needed someone who can take care of money and handle the accounting necessary to weather the storm.”
Kinsella will officially start on January 1.
At the present time, he is the vice chancellor with the West Valley/Mission College District and acts the school’s interim president.
“I’m very excited,” said Kinsella when he first got the news. “It’s a wonderful opportunity.”
And a familiar territory.
A resident of Morgan Hill, Kinsella was the former Dean of Business Services at Gavilan from July 1996 to January 1999.
Kinsella was chosen for the position after a committee of 10 narrowed the initial field of some 50 applicants down to three candidates. Those three candidates toured the campus this week and participated in a forum discussion with college administrators, faculty, students and members of the public who wished to attend.
The board then interviewed each candidate extensively and the vote for president was cast Wednesday night after a closed session meeting.
While he is thrilled with the opportunity, Kinsella realizes that he has his work cut out for him.
In recent years, the number of students obtaining degrees at Gavilan has declined. In addition, the number of students transferring to California State Universities and the University of California system has declined as well.
The school is also maligned with weak afternoon and evening programs that don’t fill, and its athletic department has been struggled not only on the playing field but to stay afloat.
“As a strategic plan is developed and implemented for the school, my accounting background will be critical,” said the 44-year-old Kinsella. “I’ll also be working closely with the board to define their desires and the community’s needs. Once I get a sense of direction as to where they want to head, I’ll implement a plan to help the school get there.”
Prior to his stint in the West Valley/Mission College District, he was the vice president of administrative services at Monterey Peninsula College from January 1999 to September 2000. Before his first go around at Gavilan, Kinsella was the Director of Business Services at Los Angeles Community College from 1991 to 1996.
He is a certified public accountant and internal auditor and is expected to receive his doctorate in business administration in the next two months from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
Ultimately, Kinsella would like to see Gavilan branch out and expand.
“I would like to see us grow so that we could better support our extended communities of Morgan Hill and San Benito County,” Kinsella said.
Currently, the school has satellite campuses in Morgan Hill on Vineyard Boulevard and in Hollister on Fourth Street. Kinsella would like to see the programs offered at those sites to be expanded.
Martin Johnson, the school’s vice president of instruction, has been the school’s acting interim president.
