College of DuPage board names top pick for president

The College of DuPage board of trustees is expected to appoint a new school president during their meeting Thursday night.

Muddassir Siddiqi has emerged as the top candidate for the post, the Glen Ellyn-based community college announced Tuesday. If confirmed, he would become the college’s eighth president.

Siddiqi is currently the vice chancellor of instructional innovation and digital strategy for the Houston Community College system. Before that, he served as president and chief executive officer of the system’s Central College.

The College of DuPage board will vote on a three-year employment agreement with Siddiqi. He would receive a minimum annual salary of $300,000 under the proposed terms of the agreement.

For each subsequent year of the agreement that starts on or after July 1, the president's annual salary will be increased in an amount to be decided by the board. The agreement also stipulates that in no event will such annual salary adjustment result in providing the president with more than a 6% increase in total creditable earnings for any contract year used by the State Universities Retirement System for annuity calculation purposes.

The board also would pay or reimburse the president for “reasonable and documented” relocation expenses up to $10,000.

Siddiqi would succeed former College of DuPage President Brian Caputo, who retired last summer after five years in the role.

The COD board appointed Christine Hammond to serve as interim president while the college conducted a nationwide search that began last fall.

An executive search firm, Storbeck Search/Diversified Search Group, was hired by the trustees as part of the process, which also included an internal search committee composed of administrators, faculty, staffers, students, community representatives and members of the COD board and foundation board.

COD Trustee Andrew Manno, who co-chairs the presidential search committee, told the board last month that it had selected about a dozen or so candidates to appear before the committee for interviews. The committee held those interviews over a span of two days — “over long, long hours” — and was able to narrow the search down to four candidates, Manno said in January.

Both the board and the committee agreed to follow a “hybrid confidential approach” to “ensure that COD has the best quality candidates that the country has to offer,” Manno said previously.

Siddiqi also was chosen as one of the finalists for the same position at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, that school announced in early October.

Siddiqi holds an Ed.D. in adult education from Northern Illinois University, an MBA from the University of Northern Alabama and a master’s degree in industrial technology from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He also attended Harvard University for leadership development programs.

The board, meanwhile, also will welcome two new trustees this spring. Thomas Tumminaro of Wheaton and Maria Sinkule of Addison are the only candidates for two available 6-year seats up for election in April.

Sahin “Sonny” Jutla, who was appointed by the board last year to fill a vacancy, is the lone candidate for a 2-year seat.