OCCC President Search Will Place Candidate By July 1st
(OCCC) Oklahoma City Community College continues its search for a new President.
On Nov. 5, the OCCC Board of Regents held a meeting to discuss the process for selecting a new president for the school.
This is the first presidential search that has been conducted in 30 years.
The Board of Regents has brought on Dr. Dennis Michaelis, an executive search consultant with Gold Hill Associates. He is also a former community college president who brings his experience and expertise to assist colleges in presidential searches such as this.
Michaelis presented an overview of the presidential search document, which was sent out to colleges across all fifty states and U.S. territories. This document can be found on OCCC’s website.
Michaelis drew emphasis on two key points in the final stages of this presidential search process.
“WE TRY TO CREATE AS DIVERSE A POOL OF CANDIDATES AS WE POSSIBLY CAN,” Michaelis said.
He drew special attention to this issue for the sake of potential candidates.
“You can get at that later on, but for an initial look at a candidate, what you really need to look at is a cover letter, and you take a look at the cover letter, and you look at the job announcement. Does that cover letter reflect that they’ve really paid attention to what the job’s all about?” Michaelis said. “If you ask people for references up front, where they have no idea if they’re going to be qualified or if there’s going to be an interest in this position. That means they have to go to their supervisor. There are a lot of people who are going to really hesitate before they do that.”
Only those involved in the search have access to the names and matters of the candidates so as not to jeopardize any candidates’ current employment.
Dr. Jeremy L. Thomas has served as interim president for OCCC since Jan. 2, 2021. It is unknown whether he will be considered as a candidate in the presidential search.
All materials will be required from candidates by Dec. 10, 2021.
The search committee plans to interview finalists for the position between Jan. 19-28 of 2022. The new president will assume the position on or before July 1, 2022.
The Official Presidential Search Document can be read here.