New HCC head was finalist at other schools

March 28, 2002|BY ANDREW SCHOTZ

Guy Altieri, who was named the new Hagerstown Community College president last week, was a finalist for at least five other college presidencies first.

Altieri, the executive vice president at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., is scheduled to take over for departing HCC President Norman Shea on June 17.

In the last two years, Altieri was a finalist to be president of:

- Mott Community College in Flint, Mich.

- Richland Community College in Decatur, Ill.

- Northern Kentucky Community and Technical College in Edgewood, Ky.

- St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Mich.

- Lenoir Community College in Kinston, N.C.

Altieri has been an administrator at Washtenaw for 15 years. Before that, he was a teacher and administrator at Salem Community College in Carneys Point, N.J., for 14 years.

During a recent telephone interview from his Michigan home, Altieri said he decided in 2000 that he wanted to be a college president.

He considers being a six-time finalist a measure of success.

"A couple (of job openings), I backed out on" after learning more about the position and the school, Altieri said. "When you apply, you pick up information, but you don't see the books."

The Richland and Mott situations were worse than he expected, he said.

Altieri said he was more comfortable as a finalist at Hagerstown Community College because he had greater access to financial information about the school.

Altieri was a finalist until the end at St. Clair and Mott and withdrew from the Lenoir job, officials at those schools said.

No one was available for comment at Richland, but the Decatur Herald & Review reported that Altieri was one of four finalists when a new president was picked.

It couldn't be confirmed this week if Altieri was still a finalist when Northern Kentucky chose its president.

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