ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – With the current president set to retire in June, Bay College is in the final stages of finding its next leader.
A series of public interviews began on Monday morning to fill the position. Bay College Board of Trustees Chairman Joy Hopkins says getting to this point in the presidential search has been a six-month process.
“We formed a presidential search committee that interviewed nine candidates that we called semifinalists,” she explained. “At that point, the search committee recommended to the board the final four candidates that we as a board should interview.”
Between Monday and Thursday, each of the four finalists is spending a day at the Bay College campuses. Each morning will begin at the Escanaba campus with a public interview of the candidates by the Board of Trustees, followed by an open question-and-answer forum. Afterward, candidates will go to the Iron Mountain campus for another open forum.
During Monday’s interview, candidate Dr. Lawrence Brandyburg answered questions regarding what he would bring to the college, how he would handle certain situations, his experiences working in higher education, and what his priorities would be as president.
Dr. Laura Coleman has served as Bay College president for 17 years. Upon her retirement on June 30, Hopkins says it is crucial to find the right person to take her place.
“We don’t necessarily want a president exactly like the one that’s retiring, but we want somebody that’s going to take that spirit and continue to move ahead and make this college special to the community and keep it viable into the future,” said Hopkins.
Hopkins says the perfect candidate will prioritize student success and work to strengthen the college’s relationship with the community.
“A community college is the heart of the community,” she said. “That’s the students, that’s the parents, the K-12, but our business partners too. We have to meet what the employers need in our graduates as well, so this will be the community’s president.”
While there is no set timeline for selecting the next president, Hopkins hopes to present one of the candidates with an offer within the coming weeks. Her goal is to have a new president of Bay College by July 1.
Click here for the full schedule of presidential candidate interviews and forums. View candidate biographies here.
