New president named for Modesto Junior College. The board vote was not unanimous
The interim president of Modesto Junior College will officially take over the permanent job next month.
The Yosemite Community College District board voted Wednesday in closed session to give the post to Santanu Bandyopadhyay, effective June 1.
The vote was 4-2, with trustees Leslie Beggs and Milton Richards opposed. Trustee Nancy Hinton made the motion to hire Bandyopadhyay over two other finalists, followed by a second from Darin Gharat. Trustee Jenny Nicolau was absent.
Bandyopadhyay was president of Columbia College near Sonora when named as acting MJC president in January. His annual salary will be $240,548 as MJC’s top administrator.
The YCCD used a normal recruitment process and search committee to find candidates for the top post after considering the costs of an executive search firm. Two other finalists were Jonathan King, a Lake Tahoe Community College vice president, and Lena Tran, vice president of workforce innovation at San Jose City College.
Bandyopadhyay will take over the permanent job without a full endorsement from the YCCD board.
“I am very happy and honored to be offered this position,” Bandyopadhyay said Thursday. “The trustees have a right to their vote. I have been in the district for the last three years. You will have to ask them for their rationale for voting against.”
Richards, who was elected to the board in November, said the top choice has good credentials and was recommended by YCCD chancellor Henry Yong, but he wanted to see more of a commitment to the local college.
“I think he will do a great job. My concern is his commitment to the district long-term,” Richards said. “I was not comfortable that he interviewed for another job at the same time and stayed involved with that. I just want to make sure he has made the commitment and is staying for awhile.”
While seeking the MJC position, Bandyopadhyay has been one of four finalists for the top administrative job at El Camino College in Southern California. He said the El Camino board has not completed the selection but he is taking the MJC position.
“MJC is a fine institution and there are great opportunities for doing a lot of good work,” Bandyopadhyay said.
The new president will succeed Jim Houpis, who was MJC’s president for 22 months. Houpis resigned effective Jan. 13 after going on medical leave.
Hinton said it’s OK if trustees disagree on some decisions. “We are not cookie-cutter trustees,” Hinton said. “We have our own ideas.”
She said Bandyopadhyay was the most qualified for the position.
“We worked with him as president of Columbia College,” Hinton said. “I like what he has done there and think he is an asset for Modesto Junior College.”
Bandyopadhyay added that he has made good connections with high school partners, community partners, Stanislaus State University and UC Merced in the last several months.
He was the president of Columbia College starting in July 2018 and oversaw both colleges for a time this year.
Before that, he was executive vice president of educational programs and student services at Cypress College in Southern California. He served as director of institutional research at Zane State College in Ohio and was a budget analyst at Ohio University.
The new president holds a doctorate in higher education and a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio University.
Bandyopadhyay will be responsible for guiding the community college as its two campuses receive students returning from distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. He said the college administration has already started work on rebuilding MJC’s enrollment, which has dropped by 20% since 2019.
He noted that most colleges in California have lost enrollment between 15% and 20% during the coronavirus pandemic. MJC can bring the students back by working on partnerships with local high schools, he said.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
