Downey-Schilling is offered Cerritos post
Published: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Updated: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 23:03
El Paisano has learned that Cerritos College officials have made an offer to JoAnna Downey-Schilling to become its new Vice-President of Academic Affairs, the same position that she holds here in an interim basis.
The Cerritos Board of Trustees met Wednesday night and sources said that she will be hired, if she accepts the bid.
Downey-Schilling was one of three finalists for the Cerritos job along with John Weispfennig, Santiago Canyon College, and A. Cathleen Greiner, Cuesta College, and appeared at Cerritos February 23 to speak to the members of the student body, faculty and staff.
Downey-Schilling said at the time that she has "made a commitment to care about students, to care about you, to care about my co-workers and find ways to treat others with kindness and respect," according to a front page story in Talon Marks, the college's student newspaper.
Downey-Schilling was appointed Rio Hondo's Acting Vice-President of Academic Affairs after Dr. Paul Parnell resigned in December. She was recently given the title of "interim" a few weeks ago as the college begins searching for a permanent successor.
Downey-Schilling, who has been Dean of Arts the past few years, has not said whether she will accept Cerritos College's offer, but those close to the situation feels that she will, since there is no guarantee that she will be offered the Rio Hondo job when it comes time to hire a new vice-president.
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