Heartland Community College Board announces presidential search committee chair and general search timeline

[October 19, 2017] 

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Following the recent news of President Rob Widmer’s retirement, the Heartland Community College Board of Trustees has released a general timeline for his replacement. Jeff Flessner, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, has been named chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (PSAC).

The PSAC will include representatives from Heartland’s student body, employee groups and representatives of Heartland’s business, civic and educational partners. The charge given to the PSAC includes:

• Developing a statement of desired qualifications for the President

• Adopting a timetable that will permit the appointment of a new President by July 1, 2018

• Assisting with the development and vetting of a field of candidates

• Assessing a group of semifinalist candidates and making a recommendation of finalists to the Board of Trustees

The process will begin on October 26-27 with several on-campus meetings facilitated by search consultant, Dr. Jerry Israel of Academic Search, Inc.

The general timeline for the search process is as follows:

• Mid-November: Following the discussions with campus groups and community partners, publication of an institutional profile featuring information about the position, the College and the community

• Mid-November to early January: Recruitment of a strong and inclusive candidate pool

• January: Evaluation of candidate pool by PSAC

• February: Interviews with semifinalists

• March: Interviews with finalists

• April-May: Public announcement of new president

Future updates on the search process will be provided by the PSAC.

[Timothy Bill
Heartland Community College
Executive Director of Marketing & Public Information]