By Shelly Williams/editor-in-chief
The TCC board of trustees named Interim Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley as the sole finalist for the permanent position at its Feb. 18 meeting.
After opening the position to applicants last month without using a search firm, the board reached a decision on the chancellor search after about two and a half hours of closed session.
“On behalf of the board, I would move that we name Erma Johnson Hadley as the permanent chancellor as the final finalist for the chancellor’s position for the Tarrant County College District,” board vice president Bobby McGee said.
Board member Joe Hudson seconded McGee’s motion, and the vote was unanimous. Applause filled the room when board president Louise Appleman announced the vote.
Appleman said applicants were confidential and could not comment on how many applied for the position. The opening was posted in professional journals and places where someone looking for a chancellor position could find one.
It was also posted on the TCC Web site as well as others, she said.
Applicants were given the required five to six weeks to apply. Each application that came in went through Appleman, who sent it to the board.
“We had the discussion of the ones we received and prioritized our choices and came out and decided we had our best option already in place,” she said. “And, of course, she had I guess what some people could call an advantage because we had the unique opportunity of having almost an eight-month period of time to work with her and observe her style and monitor her and see her initiatives, her ideas and her programs.
Appleman defended the board’s decision not to use outside help with the search.
“We did not use a search firm, and that saved the district probably right at $100,000,” she said. “TCC is so well-known. People know that there’s a network in the community of community colleges, and our applications came from within that community, from within universities and from people in business. So we had a nice sampling of different kinds of skills to choose from.
“But having watched Ms. Hadley and having worked with her and by her, she’s a real workaholic. And she’s made a real effort in inclusivity. She’s brought in her vice chancellors, her deans and faculty and involved everybody.”
Though Hadley did not say much because finalists must be posted for 20 days before a chancellor can be made official, she said she was happy about the decision.
“I just want to say I am very pleased to have been made the sole finalist for the chancellor’s position,” she said. “I’m excited about it.”
Aside from naming a chancellor finalist, the board discussed and moved to have a two-month extension for deciding on a lump-sum contract for the TR East add-on.
“The staff requests additional time to really bring the best value to the district and our taxpayers,” vice chancellor of real estate and facilities Nina Petty said. “It’s a zero-sum change order.”
TR East will be the only way to get from downtown directly to the Trinity River, Appleman said. People will go through the campus to get to the bike paths or come up to get to a restaurant. This will make TCC the gateway to the river until somebody else figures another way to get there, she said.
Two conventions have asked to use the plaza space TR East will supply. Appleman said she thinks it’ll make people aware of TCC and that people will enjoy the add-on building.
The project came under controversy after the Army Corps of Engineers questioned the impact of the project on the Trinity River levee, and members of the community complained about the cost of the project. The project was nearly canceled after TCC bought the RadioShack headquarters to use as the TR Campus.
At one point during an October board meeting, the board discussed past funding issues. Hadley and TCC attorney Joe Davis said in a previous Collegian article that TR East Campus could struggle with delays and possible cancellation of the project if certain measures weren’t met.
“I think when it’s all done, it’ll be kind of like childbirth,” she said. “We’ll enjoy the result and forget how it all happened.”
Board members also learned at a Jan. 21 meeting that TCC could save an additional estimated $3 million without changes to the new campus’ design if the college chose to go with a lump-sum contract.
The building is expected to be completed by 2011.
The board of trustees and Hadley also approved tenure recommendations for 20 faculty members.
Faculty approved for tenure
NE CAMPUS
Bobbie Douglas
music assistant professor
Bob Sparks
music assistant professor
Jerry Zumwalt
RTVB assistant Professor
Marius Pfeiffer
biology assistant professor
Susan Patrick
chemistry assistant professor
Eliud J. Gutierrez
math assistant professor
Lisa Uhlir
government assistant professor
Rosa Fuentes
education assistant professor
NW CAMPUS
Dixil Rodriguez
English assistant professor
SOUTH CAMPUS
Jeremy Byrd
philosophy assistant professor
Gypsy Ingram
dance assistant professor
Patricia Burton
nursing assistant professor
Paul Luyster
biology assistant professor
Ticily Medley
psychology assistant professor
SE CAMPUS
Andrew Mok
construction assistant professor
Regina Cannon
business assistant professor
Benita Reed
English assistant professor
Sharon Covington
art assistant professor
Darla Shannon
reading assistant professor
Ashley E. Ayers
chemistry assistant professor
