Iowa Central Community College has continued to provide a low cost, quality education to its constituents in Area V during the 2008-09 college year. Spring semester enrollment numbers reflect a 3 percent increase over last spring. Construction continues as planned, and the new Biotechnology and Health Science Building is scheduled for completion in July, in time to welcome a new president to the Iowa Central campus.
The search for the new Iowa Central president is extremely important to the communities in Area V and to Iowa Central's continued success. What follows is an update on the progress of that search.
Beginning in December through the present time, 35 candidates submitted their applications for consideration. This speaks very well of Iowa Central's reputation as a premier community college. Throughout the country similar searches are receiving around 25 applications.
On Jan. 15, a screening committee of current Iowa community college presidents met and narrowed the list of applicants to 11. The Search Committee, composed of Iowa Central faculty, staff, business and industry leaders, and an Area V K-12 representative reviewed the remaining applications. The Search Committee completed its work Feb. 9 and made recommendations to the Iowa Central board of trustees.
The board has selected the following candidates to move on to the next step in the process:
- Dr. Robert Huddleston, regents professor, past president, Dixie State College, St. George, Utah,
- Dr. Daniel Kinney, vice president, student services, Western Nebraska Community College, Scottsbluff, Neb.,
- Dr. Lenny Klaver, vice chancellor, university relations and advancement, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wis.,
- Marlene McComas, vice president, instruction, Iowa Central Community College, and
- Dr. J.D. Rottweiler, executive vice president, academic services, Central Wyoming Community College, Riverton, Wyo.
Iowa Central will host these candidates in March and April. Each candidate will have a two-day visit to the Fort Dodge campus and community, as well as the facilities at Storm Lake and Webster City.
The candidates will meet and greet the public at an open forum on the Fort Dodge campus and on each satellite campus. The forum will allow the candidate to make opening comments followed by a question and answer session for those in attendance.
The board of trustees will hold its interview of the candidates at 5 p.m. on the second day of the visit. These interviews are open to the public; however, only the Board will be allowed to ask questions. At the end of this stage of the process, the Board of Trustees will narrow the candidate list to one to three people.
The Visitation Committee of Garland Hanson (District 6), Deb Plahn (District 5), Larry Hecht (District 3), Darrell Determann (District 1), and Donald Decker will then conduct a community visit to the individual's current place of employment. The committee will interview faculty, staff, students, and community members who know the candidate.
This process will take place in April and the group will report to the Board the results of the community visits after all of the visits are completed. The final decision on the new President of Iowa Central will rest with the Board of Trustees.
The board would like to have a new president in place as soon as possible, but no later than July 1.
This is an important process to ensure the success of your community college. I would urge community members to participate and to communicate your thoughts to your board representative.
Dr. Larry Ebbers is University Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University. He is facilitating the search process for the new Iowa Central president.