Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Interim CSN president recommended for permanent position

The longtime academic who has led the College of Southern Nevada since August is on track to become the school’s next president.

A search committee of the university system regents today recommended making Interim President Michael Richards the school’s permanent chief. The full Board of Regents will vote on that recommendation on May 1.

Richards was selected from a field of 54 candidates. The search committee, along with an advisory committee that included many members of the CSN community, voted unanimously to pick Richards over two other finalists, President Berton Glandon of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado and President Laurence Spraggs of Broome Community College in New York.

Richards’ insider status was, by some accounts, what put him over the top. University system Chancellor Jim Rogers said he liked both Richards and Glandon, and that, “If I were looking at Dr. Glandon and Dr. Richards as both coming from out of town, making applications for this job, I would probably rank them about equal.”

But Rogers added that “the fact that I have dealt with Dr. Richards these last eight or nine months is very important. ... He is a proven leader.”

As the search nears its end, it has become clear that many faculty and staff members and students shared Rogers’ sentiment.

Five different people have led CSN in as many years, leaving the college community yearning for stability.

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