Given the propensity of many public servants to conduct the people’s business in secret, the Virginia Community College System’s approach to filling the presidential vacancy at Paul D. Camp Community College is positively refreshing.

Not only did the State Board for Community Colleges make public the names of the four finalists to succeed retiring PDCCC President Doug Boyce; faculty, students, citizens and other stakeholders will get an opportunity to meet with and size up those candidates before the system’s chancellor makes the final decision.

Dr. Paul W. Conco of Bristol, Dr. Claudia Morris of Ahoskie, N.C., Dr. Cynthia S. Bambara of Warrenton and Dr. Don Pearl of Sterling, Ill., each will spend a day on the Paul D. Camp campus during the next couple of weeks. Part of their itineraries will be an open forum from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., where any citizen can attend and ask questions.

This kind of access buoys stakeholders’ confidence in the process and will give Chancellor Glenn DuBois invaluable feedback on the community’s wishes as he makes this critically important decision.

Public servants should welcome — not shield — citizens’ input on who will lead our schools, colleges and other public institutions. It increases the likelihood that those decision-makers will make the right choice, and it gives the successful candidate a head start on building the community relationships that are essential to his or her success.

— The Tidewater News