Search for a New President at
Volunteer State Community College 

The Tennessee Board of Regents is engaged in a search for a new president at Volunteer State Community College. The presidential search process is following the basic outlines of TBR searches for community college presidents (see presidential search FAQs ), although every search is somewhat different.

At its September 2011 meeting, the Tennessee Board of Regents approved criteria for the position of president, and advertisements subsequently were placed in October issues of the Chronicle of Higher Education and Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

The Presidential Search Advisory Committee has been appointed, and the first meeting will be held on the campus Dec. 15. The committee's charge is to identify three to five finalists for the position of president who will visit the campus for interviews. TBR Chancellor John Morgan will  then make a final selection for submission to the Tennessee Board of Regents for approval.

Important Links:

• Presidential Search Advisory Committee Members 
• Criteria for the Volunteer State Community College President Position 
• TBR Presidential Search FAQ 
• Dec. 15 Search Advisory Committee Minutes 
• Three finalists selected for interviews:
  • Bonny Ball Copenhaver, Ed.D. -- Provost, Motlow State Community College
  • Jerry L. Faulkner, Ph.D. -- Vice President for Academic Affairs, Cleveland State Community College
  • Michael R. McDonald, Ph.D. --  State Representative, 44th District, Tennessee House of Representatives
   
• Feb. 29 -- Watch live streaming video of search committee interviews

Timeline:

• September 2011 - The Tennessee Board of Regents approved criteria for the position of president at its quarterly meeting. Advertisements were placed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse Issues in Higher Education and HigherEdJobs.com.

• December 2011 - The Presidential Search Advisory Committee was named. The first meeting of the committee was held beginning at 12:45 p.m. CST Dec. 15 in the Thigpen Library of the Rochelle Center on the Vol State campus. Minutes of the meeting are available here.

• Jan. 11, 2012 - The search advisory committee met in the Rochelle Center to narrow the list of candidates to 10-15 first-round finalists. The committee also defined assignments for collecting additional information on the active candidates.

• Feb. 1 - The search advisory committee met to decide on a list of candidates to interview with the committee. The meeting began at 12:45 p.m. CST in the Rochelle Center. The three finalists selected for interviews are:
  • Bonny Ball Copenhaver, Ed.D. -- Provost, Motlow State Community College
  • Jerry L. Faulkner, Ph.D. -- Vice President for Academic Affairs, Cleveland State Community College
  • Michael R. McDonald, Ph.D. --  State Representative, 44th District, Tennessee House of Representatives
   
• Feb. 28 - March 2 - Finalists visit campus to interview with search committee and campus groups.
  • SEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE - Feb. 29
    • Watch live streaming video of the interviews on Feb. 29       
     
  • Copenhaver interview schedule - Feb. 29 - March 1
  • Faulkner interview schedule - Feb. 28 - 29
  • McDonald interview schedule - Feb. 29 - March 2
   
• Post-Interviews - Chancellor Morgan will collect feedback from members of the committee and make a recommendation to the Board of Regents for approval by the end of March.

• March 21 - Board to vote on Chancellor Morgan's recommendation of Jerry Faulkner as the next president of Vol State.