The candidates competing for a spot on the Governing Board of Santa Fe Community College know that if they win, they would step into a higher education landscape that is becoming increasingly unstable.

The incumbent board chair, a former faculty union president and an outsider passionate about workforce readiness programs are duking it out for two six-year spots on the oversight body charged with establishing financial and education policies for the school.

A fourth candidate, Alan P. Jones, will also appear on the ballot. He informed The New Mexican in a September email that his “circumstances” had changed and he was no longer in a position to campaign or serve. However, it was too late to withdraw his name from the ballot.

The school was recently ranked top community college in Ne

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