Carlos Migoya Holds The Deciding Vote on Who Will Run Miami-Dade College

Tercera celebración anual del Día “Yo Soy MDC” recauda cifra récord superior a $1 millón
La Fundación Miami Dade College recaudó la cifra récord de $1,044,000 para becas y programas.
The Nissan Titan only gets better and better for 2019
Grant MIller

For the past twenty-four years, Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón labored to turn Miami-Dade College around. It used to be the “safety school” for South Floridians. It was place you could go when no other college would take you.

But nobody thinks that anymore.

Today, Miami-Dade College (it’s now a full four-year educational institution) is the largest college in the United States.  The 165,000-person student body is larger than the populations of North Miami, Homestead, and Coral Gables combined.  Its reputation as an educational institution of quality is largely due to the leadership of Dr. Padrón.

Dr. Padrón served as a faculty member at MDC and became the school’s president in 1995. He’s an economist by training and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He recently retired as President of MDC.

That began a series of political machinations as devious as anything that George R.R. Martin dreamed up in Game of Thrones.

The college trustees are not meeting May 30 to select a new president but to consider lowering the minimum requirements for the job. The current minimum requirements are appropriate and consistent with higher education. The college’s webpage describing the position, laying out three minimum requirements: a Ph.D. from a regionally accredited university; a minimum of ten years of senior level management experience, six of which must be in academic administration; and demonstrated leadership and innovative accomplishments in the area of academic and student service programs and/or administrative, financial, and operational areas.

Seems simple enough, right?

The two leading candidates that MDC’s Board of Trustees will be considering are politically connected but do not have any background in running an institution of higher education. Neither meets the minimum requirements for the position.

The people of Miami-Dade County deserve better than to have this position treated as a political plum.  Miami-Dade College is one of the engines, together with FIU, that fires up and supports our local economy.

Ironically, the person who holds the swing vote is Carlos A. Migoya, the CEO of the Jackson Health System.  Migoya understands what it’s like to take a lackluster institution and turn it into a center of excellence.  Jackson Memorial used to be the hospital of last resort, a place that only the dying, destitute, and uninsured went.  No longer. Jackson Health provides world-quality health care and Migoya is responsible for assembling the team that got that done.

Now, Carlos Migoya faces a tough choice. Does he bow to political pressure? Politicos in Tallahassee are hoping that he does.

If this were Jackson Memorial we were talking about, the choice would be clear. I’m confident that Migoya would reject the idea of making a first-year resident the chief of oncology or surgery or pediatrics.  They wouldn’t have the background and experience to do the job.

To put politics above all else is to risk the 24 years of improvements that Dr. Padrón accomplished and return Miami-Dade to its former status.

It will become nothing more than a safety school once more.


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20 COMMENTS

  1. As a graduate from MDCC,now knon as MDC, I can only hope and pray that the college will follow with another competent president like Masaiko, McCabe,and Padron.I also hope they can expand their bachelors’ degree programs.Or use the MDC campuses to offer FIU degree classes.

  2. Florida is Republican. Why worry about quality if it means getting one of your donors a job. Look at Bedtsy DeVos. Got money you’ll get an appointment in the Republican World.

  3. I am a graduate of MDC and I worked for both McCabe and Padron. I am proud of the achievements of Miami Dade College as an institution of higher learning and the people that have made it possible. It would be a shame to select a candidate for the College Presidency simply because they are politically connected. Don’t sell the college short and select someone because of politics. Please, I implore you, select the candidate that has the credentials, the leadership, the track record and the desire to the job.

  4. Migoya isn’t even honoring the covenant that was made to keep ground level parking adjacent to the residential neighbors behind the Jackson South Hospital. His new improvements have a 5 story garage going up on back area of the property,even though a reconfiguration of the buildings would solve the issue. I suspect that aesthetics along SW 152St. matter more to him than keeping a promise.
    So, if he uses the same judgement at MDC, he’ll pick appearance over substance. Hope not, but this county disappoints at so many levels when it comes to its residents’ best interests.

  5. If these were African-American candidates, there would not be any conversation about lowering the requirements. If anything, the conversation would be about raising them. Stop pandering to politics. Maintain the academic excellence that McCabe envisioned and Padron has advanced.

  6. I recognize some of the names here but I can’t claim I’ve been aware of the present situation. However, Mr. Miller’s statements seem to me to be a reasonable expectation that in order to take a particular job you should have the qualifications necessary rather than just being politically connected. Sadly, this type of situation is so typical in the workplace; I’m certain we all have similar stories to tell. Let’s hope those who make the choice for the future of MDC make it with their true conscious and nothing else.

  7. I agree with the article. Dr. Padron has done an exceptional job for MDC. I hope Mr Migoya makes an intelligent decision an keep looking for a well prepared, educated and experienced candidate that continues the great job Dr Padron has been doing through the years.

  8. Candidate 1 is Manny Diaz, Jr. He runs Doral College out of a charter high school. His claim to fame, or infamy, is shoveling as much state cash out of the Florida budget and into private schools. Candidate 2 is Jeanette Nuñez, who has political connections from being legislative aide to one of the Diaz-DelaPortilla Brothers and as a Veep at Jackson Health. Politically connected? Definitely. Qualified? No way. I hope that Carlos Migoya does the right thing and rejects them both.

  9. Good point regarding the need for qualified person vs political appointee to take over at MDC, but get your facts straight about Migoya. He was brought in to Jackson as a banker with no experience in healthcare administration. He was brought in to run Jackson, after Ira Clark had already turned it into a world class organization. Migoya was a political appointee himself with his main directive being about cutting labor spending, but nothing to do with improving quality. Some of his banking methods, such as cutting critical staff to save money has put patients’ lives at risk. If that doesn’t weigh on his conscience I doubt anything about the future at MDC will matter too much for him.

  10. I think you are wrong Miami Dade is not a full university. It has a few majors that qualify for a 4 year degree but only a few

  11. Another hit commentary Mr. Miller. MDCC deserves better. MDCC has been a very important stepping stone for many of us who attended and have seen it grow over the years and who hope our kids will still have such an excellent choice available in the future.

  12. Miami-Dade College is not an “institution of quality.” I know. I taught there. I was fired because I did not give out enough A’s. At Miami-Dade, teachers are told explicitly that student retention is the name of the game and nothing else matters. I had a fellow teacher who always showed up late for class. Nobody cared. He was not fired. He gave everyone A’s. Miami-Dade is only the largest college because the many separate campuses are all under one name. Several big metro areas have systems of independent community colleges, which if combined under a single name would be larger than Miami-Dade College.

  13. Who are the two leading candidates? Why are they “leading” if neither possesses the requirements stated in the job description?

  14. I agree with your conclusion but don’t believe you should neglect the fantastic job that was done before Padron’s presidency. Bob McCabe established the place, he grew it and set it on the trajectory that Padron followed, minus Padron’s immense ego. Also, while Migoya is doing a fantastic, really outstanding job, most of the docs are UM’s and UM generates a far larger economic impact than MDC and FIU. (I’m not making this up.)

  15. Qualified candidates ONLY
    It’s the only way to make FLORIDA competitive and attract the Human Resources needed

  16. I am with you on this subject matter. I totally agree that the new President must be of the highest quality and experience. MDCC graduate 1981/2003.

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