Tim Flood
Dr. Tim Flood, vice president of business and financial affairs, was appointed by the governing board to serve as acting superintendent/ president while the college looks for its next leader. In an email to the college community, Southwestern College Governing Board President Nora Vargas thanked outgoing president Dr. Melinda Nish for her work over the last several years and wished her the best in her future endeavors. Nish announced her resignation June 17.
Flood will perform the duties and responsibilities of president until an interim is hired. The interim president will then serve until the governing board settles on a permanent leader. Vargas said the search for the next president could take six months or more.
Trustee Norma Hernandez and Vargas will work with consulting firm Community College Search Services to find candidates for the interim and permanent president.
Nish’s resignation came following an academic year that saw the college sanctioned by its accrediting body and buffeted issues of racial hostility and sexual battery of students.
Flood will be the 13th administrator to helm the college in the last 18 years. Nish, who completed four and a half years, was the longest-serving president since the 1990s. She will receive seven months of severance pay, about $170,000, according to Public Information Officer Lillian Leopold.
