By Mark Ladao | Staff Writer

The three finalists for the open chancellor position at Kapiʻolani Community College will participate in an open forum at ʻŌhiʻa Auditorium on Friday. The forum will be open to the public so that students, faculty and others can meet the prospective chancellors. The three finalists are Louisa Pagotto, Micheal Glisson and Jeffery Thomas.

Thomas will be speak and take questions from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Glisson will speak and take questions from 12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m.; Pagotto will speak and take questions from 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Pagotto is the interim chancellor at KCC and has served in a variety of leadership roles on campus, ranging from interim chancellor for academic affairs to interim assistant dean of arts and sciences to language arts department chair. She received a doctorate degree in linguistics from UH Mānoa and has over 36 years of experience in higher education.

Glisson is the vice chancellor for strategic initiatives at South Louisiana Community College. He has also worked as dean of allied health and nursing at Gateway Community College in Arizona and interim dean of health sciences and department chair of radiologic technology at Massachusetts Bay Community College. Glisson has 35 years of experience in higher education and has a doctorate degree of philosophy in epidemiology.

Thomas is the dean of academic affairs at the North Campus and West Hills Center of the Community Colleges of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania. He previously worked as dean of academic and student affairs at the Miami Dade College Homestead Campus and was dean of academic affairs at Northland Community and Technical College in Minnesota. Thomas has more than 22 years of experience in higher education. He has a doctorate degree of philosophy in history.

After a final round of interviews and a final decision is made, the new chancellor will begin serving KCC in July.