Northland Pioneer College Chief Operations Officer Jason Foutz presented the Navajo County Community College District Governing Board with requests for proposals last week to hire a search firm to locate candidates for president of the college. Dr. Jeanne Swarthout will retire from the post in July 2018.

Foutz explained that the RFP would go to specific firms, but would also be available to any who would like to apply. The firms would be vetted to determine which would best suit the needs of the college and fit within the amount budgeted. Once the board approves a firm and applications are received, a committee would review them and forward its suggestions to the board for final selection.

The board authorized the staff to advertise the RFP and begin the process of vetting potential firms. The one selected would likely begin the search on Aug. 1, with a new president slated to begin at the college in July 2018.

Earlier in the meeting English faculty member Ryan Rademacher addressed the board as the spokesperson for the NPC Faculty Association. He expressed concerns from the faculty regarding the committee chosen to select the new president.

During their last meeting the board determined that a committee consisting of faculty, staff, a Joint Technical Education District supervisor, K-12 superintendent, local leadership representatives, representatives from the three tribal communities and NPC students would be created in order to begin the vetting process of applicants for the president’s position.

Rademacher pointed out that of the 13-person search committee, just over 23 percent are what he called “NPC people.”

When questioned by the board regarding what percentage he thought would be best, Rademacher replied that it was a discussion amongst faculty that at least 50 percent should be people from the college, but not one had suggested specific changes. “The president does a lot of things for the school, but one of them is leading the academic rigor of the college and if our students are here to be instructed by top-notch faculty, I think that they should have a larger say in the person who is going to be at the helm of the ship,” explained Rademacher.

Chairman Frank Lucero and board member James Matteson asked Rademacher if he didn’t think input from taxpayers in the community would also be valuable.

Rademacher responded that the faculty are also taxpayers. “If the board is setting up a search firm and their slotting faculty to have 23 percent of the spots, then it says something about what input faculty should have according to the board,” he said.

Matteson noted that it’s still early in the process and that Rademacher’s input was valuable, with other board members nodding in agreement, but as the item was not listed on the agenda for discussion or action, no changes could be made to the committee representation.