KIRTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES

SPECIAL MEETING

SUCCESSION PLANNING

September 19, 2006

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Sally Galer called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Members Present:      Sally Galer, Roy Spangler, Richard Silverman, Patricia Webb, Roberta Werle

Members Absent:        Robert Bovee, Denis Weiss

Others Present:          Stacey Barnes, Jerry Boerema, Jo Ann Comerford, Kathy Koch, Ed Koliba, Doty Latuszek, Kathy Marsh, Charles Rorie, Ilene Scherer, Tim Scherer, Dale Shantz

WELCOME

Members, employees and guests were welcomed by Chair Sally Galer.

OPEN DISCUSSION

Roy Spangler referenced the Detroit Free Press front page article about two international Kirtland students sharing housing with a local senior citizen which appeared in today’s edition.

COMMUNICATION

Charles Rorie provided all board members with a copy of The CEO Contract: A Guide for Presidents and Boards  published by Community College Press through the American Association of Community Colleges.

Charles Rorie presented and read a letter of intention to retire from his position as President of Kirtland Community College, effective July 31, 2007.

Trustee Richard Silverman asked for advice from Charles Rorie about when to begin the process of choosing a new college president.  He also noted that Mid Michigan Community College is at the same stage as we are with their president, Ron Verch, announcing his retirement. Charles Rorie’s recommendation was to start the process immediately.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Roy Spangler stated that he is in favor of using a professional search consultant to conduct the search for a new president. He has seen the ACCT consultant, Dave Ponitz, in such a role and was impressed with his performance in finding good matches for the organization he was representing.  Sally Galer expressed preference for using ACCT, based on her previous consultant experience with that organization.  Roberta Werle expressed disappointment with her experience with ACCT but agreed with the idea of using a search group.  Richard Silverman recommended that the board ask for references from recent presidential searches for the right person to become our consultant.

Charles Rorie offered to contact ACCT to arrange for a formal proposal.  Roy Spangler moved to charge the president to make the initial contact with ACCT for a proposal and to ask for Dave Ponitz.  The motions was supported by Patricia Webb.  Discussion:  Rorie suggested contacting ACCT and  AACC and tell them the board is interested in exploring using them for the search for our next president.  To ACCT, he would specifically ask for Dave Ponitz, and a s soon as a proposals become available, he will send it to the trustees.  Roy Spangler amended his motion to include AACC which was supported by Richard Silverman. 

Vote:      Ayes, five      Nays, zero     Abstain, zero        Absent, two          The motion was declared approved..

After viewing proposals, the trustees will then decide whether to call a special meeting to choose a consulting firm or to wait until the October regular meeting.

Richard Silverman asked whether the search committee would include all board members, because all proceedings become a matter of public record.  Charles Rorie said that he expects a committee will not consist of all the board members, but we will find out such details through the proposals.   The committee would screen down to the final candidates for interviews by the board in a public meeting.

Karen Brown mentioned that several Michigan community colleges fairly recently replaced presidents using consultants, so it might be a good idea to find out who they used and how they felt about the process.

Each trustee was asked to think about the qualities they want to look for in the next president.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was declared adjourned at 7:51 p.m. by Chair Sally Galer.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Koch

Recording Secretary