PENDLETON — With Blue Mountain Community College heading toward the home stretch of its presidential search, the college is introducing its top three candidates for the open position over a series of digital forums.

All three candidates will be traveling to Pendleton, where they will tour the BMCC campus before holding a series of meetings with students, staff, the board of education and community members. The digital forums for the general public will be June 7-9, 5:20-6 p.m.

On Monday, June 7, the candidate forum will feature Mark Browning, the vice president of college relations at the College of Western Idaho, a community college in Nampa.

According to a BMCC press release, Browning’s 14 years of experience in higher education include a decade at the community college level. The press release touted his experience advocating for more community college funding and developing a campaign to increase college enrollment.

The link to access Browning’s forum is at https://bluecc.zoom.us/j/99525660347.

On June 8, Western Nebraska Community College President Carmen Simone will participate in the next forum.

Simone has been a college administrator at both two- and four-year institutions in South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. An accomplishment listed in the press release was turning a university center at the University of South Dakota into a fully integrated community college.

The link to Simone’s forum is https://bluecc.zoom.us/j/94563551006.

Rounding out the field is Christopher Villa, the former president of Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus, who will be the subject of the June 9 forum.

Villa’s 35 years in higher education include leadership stints in Utah, California and Oregon, his latest job ending in 2020 after Portland Community College eliminated his position. The press release highlighted his time in Portland, where he used funding from the college’s foundation to start a cultural awareness program for students and staff.

The link to Villa’s forum is https://bluecc.zoom.us/j/97557038222.

All three are vying to replace Dennis Bailey-Fougnier, who abruptly resigned in February after less than two years on the job, citing personal health issues.

Connie Green, a former Tillamook Bay Community College president, has been the interim president since then.

A presidential search committee will make a recommendation to the BMCC Board of Education on its top candidate later this month, with a final decision expected in July.