News

UA System leadership presents chancellor search process

UA System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt and Vice President for Planning and Development Chris Thomason hosted a presentation March 30 on the UA - Pulaski Tech Main Campus to outline the search process for a new UA-PTC Chancellor.

In January, UA-PTC Chancellor Margaret Ellibee announced her retirement, effective June 30.

Dr. Bobbitt described the process for forming a search committee, first assuring UA-PTC faculty that they would play a part in the selection process. Staff representatives also will be on the committee, as well as stakeholders from area secondary education institutions and business and industry partners. The UA-PTC Board of Visitors will also provide guidance in establishing the composition of the search committee.

Dr. Bobbitt estimated that establishing the committee may take two weeks, after which they will begin their work. “It’s much better to do the job correctly than to do it quickly,” he said. “We can reasonably expect that we will not complete this process by June 30. It’s reasonable to expect the entire process to take six months.”

The committee will begin by establishing the job description or position criteria. It will be posted on the college website and advertised nationally. The application will be made public for approximately four to six weeks.

“We will put special effort to getting a diverse pool of applicants,” Dr. Bobbitt said. “If eight or ten applicants are excellent we will conduct Zoom interviews to pare the number to three or four. Those finalists can each expect to spend an entire day or more meeting with faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders, as well as with the committee."

The search committee is a recommending body, not a decision-making one. The final selection will be decided by a vote of the UA System Board of Trustees.

UA System Vice President for Planning and Development Chris Thomason will provide guidance from the UA System during the search process. “We will build a team together,” he said. “I’m here to ensure that the process moves forward. This process can reflect out to the world the good work that is happening at UA-PTC.”