ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Elva LeBlanc was named the sole finalist for chancellor of TCC in a vote by the board of trustees on Nov. 5 with two board members dissenting.

In a special board meeting held on Saturday, the TCC board of trustees met for the finalization of the choice for the future chancellor, as well as an assessment of both the board and the chancellor. LeBlanc has been acting on an interim basis after being elected as acting chancellor in February of this year.

Board president Teresa Ayala said the board believes LeBlanc is the “right candidate for where we are.” She said that LeBlanc is a prime example of education to occupation in the TCC community.

“She has what you call a cultural proficiency,” Ayala said. “She’s been there as a student, she’s been there as faculty, she’s been there in a leadership role. So who better to know what our students are feeling and what they’re experiencing because she went through all of this, so we’re fortunate.”

During the ruling two board members, assistant secretary Leonard Hornsby and board member Shannon Wood, opposed the motion to make LeBlanc the sole finalist for the chancellor position. They declined to comment after the meeting.

General counsel Carol Bracken explained the next steps that will be taken now that LeBlanc was chosen.

“At this point, we will need to prepare a contract for her,” Bracken said. “It will have to be negotiated first of all by the board internally to know the terms and conditions they want to offer and then after that, we’ll have to have a conversation with Dr. LeBlanc. Standard contract negotiation. If that happens, then at some point in the future she will be named our chancellor.”

Also during the special meeting was an internal assessment of the board’s performance, organized by a representative of the Association of Community College Trustees Mary Splide. It included a packet of synthesized data of responses from the individual board members as well as a presentation to clarify the priorities of the board as a whole.

“That is exactly the role of the board,” Spilde said. “To focus on the outcomes that you’re looking for and then work with the chancellor on ‘how are we going to know? What measurements are we going to use to know that we were successful in reaching a goal?’”

Vice president of the board Kenneth Barr said he thought the assessment was an overall positive one.

“It appears to me that the majority of the board is pretty much in the same place but we’ve got a couple of board members who have got a slightly different orientation,” Barr said. “But all in all it strikes me that this is a pretty positive report.”

Barr said he was pleased with the board voting to designate LeBlanc as the new chancellor. According to him, she has done a very good job as acting and then interim chancellor in what he described as a “rather difficult year.”

“The tenor and tone of the whole organization has changed and seems to have improved in my opinion, so I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Barr said.

LeBlanc said she is excited about the position and that she is delighted to be a part of the work changing people’s lives for the better. She said she is focused on the strategic plan in place regarding the construction of NW and SE Campus, technology across the district and the retention of students.

“I think the future is pretty awesome, these are exciting times,” LeBlanc said. “The pandemic created a lot of disruption, from that a lot of good things evolved and we’re going to focus on students, focus on the things that we know work well and the strengths of our talent. And I think we have a tremendous future.”