2 different candidates vie to become next Mat-Su College Director, with more candidates remaining

Two very different and qualified candidates recently completed an open forum interview process to become the Mat-Su College’s next Director after current Director, Dr. Talis Colberg recently announced his intent to retire in October after 13 years of leading the campus.

The college is halfway through the interview process, which had to be curtailed due to a flight cancellation after inclement weather in the lower 48 lead to thousands of flights being cancelled recently.

The field has been narrowed down to 3 candidates, and the search committee in charge of finding a new director had been hosting an open forum for each finalist, inviting staff, faculty, students, and others from the public to attend, ask questions, and provide input.

Both candidates gave an overview introduction of themselves and their experiences before turning things over to a question-and-answer forum, which included in-person and Zoom questions, fielding questions about their vision for the future of the college, their individual take on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), how they plan to interact with the public, and the current climate on technical education. Questions were not screened ahead of time, giving those in attendance, as well as the candidates themselves, a more candid view of the people hoping to take over the helm.

To date, 2 candidates have visited the campus to participate in the open forum interview, and represent varied backgrounds but with the same goal in mind-to lead the Mat-Su College.

The first candidate, Carolyn Goolsby, took a colorful, windy path into education, becoming a Jeopardy! Champion and weight-lifting record holder, not to mention spending nearly a year in a Roman Catholic monastery, before discovering her true calling was being a librarian.

After earning a Master’s in Library Studies, Goolsby spent nearly 20 years working in several libraries, working her way up from cataloger to Head of Bibliographic Access before becoming the Director at Wood Buffalo Regional Library in Alberta, Canada.

From there, Goolsby eventually moved to Haines, Alaska and became the Director of the Haines Borough Public Library. In 2021, she was named the Director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus.

When asked why she wanted to come here to the Mat-Su College, she simply said, “I wanted to be closer to the city, but still enjoy being in Alaska.”

The second candidate to participate in the open forum was Jonathon Mark Wrighton, who has been involved in academia for over 20 years, having earned several degrees, including 2 Master’s and a Doctorate in Political Science.

His educational trajectory has led him to several leadership positions with several universities in the lower 48, including Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Millikin University, 2007 to 2009, where he also served as Chair of the Department.

Wrighton went on to serve as Associate Dean for Gulf Coast Operations, College of Arts & Letters, University of Southern Mississippi, then later Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the same university. Most recently, he was Dean, College of Public Affairs & Administration, University of Illinois – Springfield.

When asked how he thinks he would adjust to the very different climate here in Alaska versus the south, which he spent much time living in, he simply said, “I’ll handle it. It’s been an experience coming up here. And when football season comes around, as long as I have cable access, I’ll be good!”

There has not been a date set for the next open forum candidate interview as of this publication.

Dr. Colberg is set to retire later this year in October after serving more than 13 years as the Director.