Minutes Meeting, NWFSC of Trustees March

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Minutes
Specia l Meeting, NWFSC Board of Trustees
March 30, 2016; 8:30 a.m.
Building 400, Room 302
Members Present:
Brian S. Pennington, Chairman
Rachel R. Gillis, Vice Chairman
C. Wayne Ansley
Michael M . Flynt, Sr.
Marijo Strauss
Hayward Dykes, Board Attorney
Others present: Mike Griffith and Marsha Sanders of The Bay Beacon; Leah Johns, Northwest Florida Daily News;
General Don Litke, ISP Member; Randy White, VP for Administrative Services; Cristie Kedroski, VP for College
Advancement; Aimee Watts, Dean of Students; Anne Southard, Acting VP of Academic Affairs; Deborah Fontaine, Acting
Dean of General Education and Grants; Stephanie Pettis, Director, Marketing and Public Relations; Dennis Sherwood,
Dean, Career and Technical Education; James Gentry and Tomi Salo, AV Services; Nancy Murphy, Director, Human
Resources; Julie Cotton, Director, Costa Leadership Institute and Continuing Education; Carla Reinlie, Associate Director,
NWFSC Foundation; Janice Henderson, Director, Learning Resources Center; Julie Nelson, Dental Program Director;
Carrie Griffith, Office Specia list II; Greg Eller, Chief Information Officer; James Adams, Business Offi ce Manager; Ronnie
Stan ley, Professor, Communications; Jeanette Shires, Director, The Mattie Ke lly Fine and Performing Arts Center; Joe
Taylor, Coordinator of Choreography; Jeremy Ribando, Chairman, Humanities, Fine & Performing Arts; Deanna Simpson,
Instructional Support Specialist- Science; Ross Hamilton, Director, FWB Beach Campus and College Centers; Philip Heise,
Chairman, Natural Sciences Department; and, Carolyne Laux, Executive Assistant to the President.
Call to Order Brian S. Pennington
Invocation Michael M . Flynt, Sr.
Pled ge of Allegiance Marijo Strauss
Approval of Agenda The Board of Trustees approved the Agenda, as submitted (Motion : Flynt; Second: Strauss. Vote
for: Flynt, Strauss, Ansley, Gillis, and Pennington.)
Dr. Jarrell's Interview The Board of Trustee interviewed Dr. Sasha L. Jarrell, NWFSC Interim President, for the
presidency position at the College.
Pause in Meeting The Board of Trustees took a 10-minute break, allowing Dr. Jarrell to be escorted from the room .
Reconvened Meeting The Board of Trustees reconvened the Special Board Meeting to deliberate on the pre sidential candidates interviewed . Chairman's Comments I want to reiterate a few items and then I' d like to start the discussion by each of us offering any
opening remarks you wish to make on the process, the cand id ates, or any other matter related
to the Presidential Search. We will then proceed to discuss each candidate in the order we
interviewed them . I will call for motions when I believe there is consensus and there is an action
to take.
1. I want to remind everyone, we are not obligated to make a hiring deci sion today. We
should not be in a rush here. We are going to deliberate the merits and achievements
2229 of our candidates and whatever the appropriate path forward that we can collective ly
agree upon- we will fo llow.
a. As I've sa id throughout this search- a bad hire is worse than no hire.
2. We have received the PSAC's recommendations and interviewed those candidates. We
have invited Dr. Jarrell to interview- and I submit to you that we are fully within our
scope to invite anyone we wish to interview. The hiring decision is the Board's decision
and whomever we choose to interview is the decision of the collective board.
3. The PSAC did a fine job- and I va lue their work and input. I know you do too. We
received their recommendations and now we must choose the way forward that best
suits the future of the institution.
4. I've heard quite a lot of rumor and innuendo this past week from unnamed sources. It's
a shame that certain people have refused to stand in the sunshine with the Board or
Trustees- instead they hide in the shadows, refusing to use their name- but they are
the ones who wa nt to yell the loudest .
5. I am gratefu l for the conversations I have been able to have w ith staff and faculty.
have been contacted by one individual who asked me for a conversation regarding our
process. We had a very pleasant and very fruitful conversation and I applaud that
person for reaching out to the Board in an effort to try and understand the facts. I have
also answered three ema ils.
6. I want you to know that I was on campus on Monday and made myself available at 3
o'clock to meet with any person who wished to understand the process we have
undertaken and the path we are on. I was not plann ing to be on campus, but I felt that
comm unication and ava ilability was the right thing to do. No other board members
were present with me. I received two staff members and we had a good conversation.
wi ll admit to you I was disappointed that only two people chose to seek me out to
better understand things, but I am grateful for those two persons who were willing to
meet with me.
7. Our search consu ltant has provided you with information from our cand idates
throughout the process as well as in recent days and I trust you have been able to
review those items and form an assessment for yourself.
8. I am disappointed that our search consultant did not find some of the more im portant
items that have certa inly drawn the attention of the media in the past few days. You
are also aware of that information. I have spoken with our consultant and expressed my
disappointment that it was not found ea rlier.
9. So, I've sa id enough but I'd like to just comment that we have many options today. Our
options include terminating the search, expanding the search, interviewing other semi­
fina lists, making a hiring decision, along with other possible scenarios as well. We need
leadership at the co llege and wherever that comes from, the Board will seek to find it
and the Board is the one who wi ll make the final decision.
Now, let me go around the room and ask you if you have any opening remarks to make on the
ca ndidates, the process, or the next steps we should take as we begin our deliberations.
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Re-open Search
The Board of Trustees voted to re-open the sea rch for t he Pres ide nt of NWFSC (Motion: Flynt;
Second: Strauss. Vote for: Flynt, Strauss, Gi ll is, Ansley, and Pennington.)
PSAC
The Trustees voted to select a new Pres ident ial Search Advisory Committee at a subsequent
meeting (Motion: Flynt; Second: Strauss. Vote for: Flynt, Strauss, Gi llis, Ansley, and
Pennington.)
NWFSC Search
A motion was made by Mr. Flynt to do the Search for a President ourse lves. The motion died for
a lack of a second of the motion.
Terminate Current
Search
New Search Firm
The Board of Tru stees voted to terminate the consideration of the candidacy of Dr. Anthony
Tricoli, Dr. Juston Pate, and Dr. Sasha Jarre ll that were interviewed in t his Search (Motion:
Pennington; Second: Ansley. Vote for: Ansley, Gillis, Strauss, Flynt, and Pennington.)
The Board of Trustees voted to seek proposa l f rom other firms for a new Presidential Search
Firm to conduct the second search (Motion: Flynt; Second: Gillis. Vote for: Flynt, Strauss, Gillis,
Ansley, and Penningto n.)
Mr. Flynt suggested the Jeff Hockaday Firm be contacted to submit a proposal.
Interim President
The Board of Trustees desires that Dr. Jarrell continue as the Interim President. The Trustees
affirms the need for co ll ege leadership to move forward in solving college issues with all the
appropriate autho ri ty as t his search continues (Motion: Flynt; Second: Strauss. Vote for:
Ansley, Gil lis, Strauss, Flynt, and Pen nington.)
Reapp lication (Jarre ll )
The Boa rd of Trustees approved t hat t he Interim President, Dr. Jarre ll, would be al lowed to
app ly for the presidency posit ion, if she so desires (Motion: Stra uss; Second: Flynt. Vote for:
Ansley, Gill is, Strauss, Flynt, and Pennington.)
Current PSAC
The Board of Trustees wished to express their appreciation to the PSAC that served for the first
search of candidates and noted that they had given their time and best efforts. The board
appreciated and acknowledged their service (Motion: Flynt; Second: Pennington. Vote for:
Ansley, Gill is, Strauss, Flynt, and Pennington.)
Special Board Meeting The Board of Trust ees voted to ho ld a Special Board Meeting on April 12, 2016 at 4:00p.m . in
Building 400, Room 302 for the purpose of (1) Review Presidential Search Firm Proposa ls; (2)
Naming a Presidential Search Adv isory Committee; and (3) Other Items as needed (Motion:
Strauss; Second: Ans ley. Vote fo r: Ans ley, Gill is, Strauss, Flynt, and Pennington.)
Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
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Brian S. Penn ington, Chai rman
Board of Trustees
Northwest Florida State Coll ege