By Steve Knight/editor-in-chief
TCC board of trustee members continued to work out details for a new chancellor job description during its regular meeting Nov. 19.
The board approved a set of minimum requirements that candidates must demonstrate: a record of success in a relevant executive position, an earned graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution, demonstrated commitment to TCCD values (excellence, access, diversity, student success, service to the community and innovation and creativity) and effective communication skills.
Trustee Gwen Morrison persuaded the board to open the search to candidates with master’s degrees instead of requiring a doctoral degree as in past searches.
“The doctorate is a research degree,” she said. “It is a substitute for direct experience. That does not guarantee that the candidate will meet our needs.”
The board also approved a preferred qualifications list for potential candidates that includes college teaching experience and a successful leadership role in a large, urban community college setting.
“The candidate should meet all of our requirements and most of our preferences,” Board Vice President Bobby McGee said. “I want to hear specific examples of things they have done that will wow me.”
Board members continued to express the need for the next chancellor to function well in a collaborative setting as opposed to having a taskmaster approach.
“It should be someone who empowers people to do the work,” board member Joe Hudson said.
McGee said, “In my view, this person should lead by setting desired outcomes, recruit and nurture a team of highly competent individuals, coach those that don’t perform and change the objectives or change the people.”
The board’s next step is to decide whether to hire a firm to conduct a nationwide search.
Bill Lace, interim vice chancellor for administrative and community services, said 11 firms answered the college’s call for chancellor search proposals, and board members would take about two weeks to inspect them.
Board President Louise Appleman announced a Dec. 19 workshop to discuss and decide which search firm, if any, to hire.
In other business, the board approved an amendment to the surface use agreement with Chesapeake Energy regarding drilling on NE Campus and the use of a gas pipeline easement with DFW Midstream Services on SE Campus.
The board also approved a deductive change order to the contract with Austin Con-Real for around $15.4 million.
The action resulted from the canceling of the uptown and pedestrian bridge portions of construction at Trinity River East Campus, reducing the total contract with Austin Con-Real to $148.2 million.
The board also approved revisions in policy increasing limits on job order contracts and allowing the chancellor to add positions as needed within the parameters of the annual budget.
For the first time, the board meeting was recorded on video, but Lace could not say how or when the broadcast would be available for viewing.
Lace was hopeful, however, that the board’s next regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 21 will be available live on the district’s Web site as well as downloaded on demand.
