Pomona College has hired Mary Lou Woods as its new Assistant Vice President (AVP) Controller and Associate Treasurer. Woods started her new job Monday.
Karen Sisson, Treasurer of Pomona College, said that Woods’ hiring “represents the culmination of a 10-month search to replace former AVP Controller and Associate Treasurer Andrew O’Boyle,” who resigned in January. Immediately following O’Boyle’s resignation, Interim Controller Marilyn Payne was hired on contract until a permanent replacement for the position was found.
Woods was selected from a pool of 400 applicants after being reached through a search firm. The search for an individual to fill this role has been long and arduous, Sisson said.
“Five [finalists] were interviewed by a search committee composed of faculty and staff,” Sisson said. After this round, “three were brought to campus for interviews with executive staff, a faculty and staff open forum, the other treasurers of the Claremont Colleges, President David Oxtoby, and the assistant controllers.”
The AVP is “responsible for all of the operations of the Business Office including general accounting, budget, payroll, investments, grants accounting, cashiering, and student loan billing,” Sisson said. Woods will also be in charge of overseeing the annual audit and will staff the Finance and Audit Committees of the Board of Directors along with assisting in designing the annual budget.
In a Nov. 23 email from Sisson to faculty and staff, Woods was introduced as having arrived from Transportation Corridor Agencies in Irvine, where she held the positions of Director of Internal and Operational Audits, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, Director of Finance, Treasury Operations Manager, and Finance Consultant. Woods obtained her bachelor’s degree in accounting from California State University, Fullerton.
Sisson is confident about the addition of Woods to Pomona’s administration.
“She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas of financial modeling and reporting, treasury operations, audit functions, financial systems implementation, contracts management, and bond financing,” Sisson said.