VP Administrative Services
Mesa Community College
Recruiting for VP Administrative Services
Mesa Community College, a cornerstone of the Maricopa County Community College District, was entering a period of transition that called for steady, strategic leadership in its Vice President of Administrative Services role. The position required a leader who could bring expertise across multiple operational areas while guiding the college toward greater alignment and long-term stability. To meet this need, Mesa partnered with Another Source to identify exceptional candidates ready to lead with both vision and operational strength.
The Challenge
Mesa Community College, the largest campus in the Maricopa County Community College District, faced a sudden vacancy in its Vice President of Administrative Services role after an unexpected resignation. The position had been open for a month, with an interim leader balancing duties across two campuses. The college was in the midst of significant organizational change, with multiple leadership transitions across the President’s Cabinet, and was grappling with budget constraints, facilities challenges, and a need to centralize administrative functions. The role’s scope was vast—spanning finance, facilities, IT, HR, police, and auxiliary services—requiring a leader with both technical expertise and the ability to rebuild trust, implement shared governance, and guide a culture shift from reactive to proactive operations.
The Solution
Another Source partnered closely with Mesa’s leadership, including Interim President Kim Britt and VP of Student Services Newin Orante, to develop a highly targeted sourcing strategy. This included:
- Crafting a compelling, transparent job message to address the vacancy’s background while highlighting the opportunity for transformational impact.
- Targeting leaders in higher education and complex public-sector organizations with experience overseeing large-scale finance, facilities, and operations portfolios ($40M+ budgets).
- Leveraging specialized higher education platforms (ChronicleVitae, Inside Higher Ed), professional associations (NACUBO, ACBO), and direct outreach to candidates with CFO, VP, and AVP-level experience.
- Ensuring diversity outreach aligned with Mesa’s status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, including engagement with HACU, APAHE, and professionals from MSIs/HBCUs.
The Result
The search yielded a high-quality, diverse pool of candidates with the financial acumen, operational oversight experience, and leadership approach Mesa needed. Through a combination of proactive outreach and strategic messaging, Mesa was able to engage candidates who understood the challenges and were excited about the opportunity to lead change in a complex, multi-campus environment. This collaborative effort positioned the college to fill the role with a leader capable of advancing fiscal stewardship, improving operational efficiency, and fostering a culture of shared governance and stability after years of leadership turnover.
“Working with Another Source was a breath of fresh air. As a community college, our recruitment needs are varied and often time-sensitive. Their team understood that from day one. They were efficient, thoughtful, and deeply knowledgeable about the higher education landscape. They made sure to keep us on track and kept the recruitments moving along at a pace that we could not have accomplished without their team’s expertise. We couldn’t have asked for a better recruitment partner.”
– Vanessa Watson, Human Resources Supervisor, Mesa Community College, Maricopa Community Colleges