Submitted photoDr. Tony Miksa, vice president of academic and student affairs at McHenry County College in Illinois

Central Oregon Community College’s board of directors will meet Friday to regroup after losing its second presidential candidate in two years.

The board announced last month it had selected Tony Miksa, an administrator at McHenry County College in Illinois, as its top choice and contract negotiations were moving forward. The board learned over the weekend that Miksa had withdrawn after his father-in-law died unexpectedly. The news was announced on campus Wednesday.

“Now just isn’t the time to move my family 2,000 miles across the country,” Miksa said in a phone interview following the announcement. “I do really want to thank everyone for all that they did for me while I was out there. I wish the college the best.”

The board met Monday to discuss next steps but did not make a decision and plans to continue that discussion Friday. Options include redoing the search, revisiting other candidates or making an interim appointment, according to Ron Paradis, the director of college relations.

“We are very disappointed as we felt Dr. Miksa would be an outstanding president for COCC,” Laura Craska Cooper, board chairwoman, said in a statement. “Having seen the tremendous talent and dedication of faculty, staff and the board during the search process, I’m confident that COCC is in a position of strength and will continue to provide a quality, supportive educational experience for students and members of the community.”

This is the second consecutive year the board has conducted a search for college president. Last year, the board picked Patrick Lanning, an administrator from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, as the finalist. The board later learned Lanning had been accused of raping a colleague and placed on administrative leave, a fact he did not disclose to COCC. Shirley Metcalf was made interim president for the current school year while the board conducted another search.

Metcalf previously served as the college’s dean of extended learning. COCC’s previous president, James Middleton, retired in September.

Miksa is the vice president of academic and student affairs at McHenry County College about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. He was selected over two other candidates: Leah Bornstein, president of Coconino Community College in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Jimmie Bruce, vice president of academic success at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio. Another candidate, Jerrilee Mosier, chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast in Fort Wayne, Indiana, withdrew her name before the board announced its decision.

Miksa was named the top choice early last month. At the time, Paradis said the board had a second choice it was keeping under consideration should Miksa fall through. He declined to say who the second choice is.

“We’re working with our consultant on that option,” Paradis said Wednesday.

This is the second shake-up in COCC administration in a week. Last Friday, Charles Abasa-Nyarko, the college’s vice president for instruction, resigned after less than two years on the job. On Tuesday, Metcalf announced Diana Glenn, who retired as dean of instruction in 2011, had agreed to fill the role on an interim basis through June. Glenn was a faculty member and dean at COCC for 25 years.

— Reporter: 541-617-7837,

aspegman@bendbulletin.com