AHOSKIE – Dr. Claude Odom, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Roanoke-Chowan Community College said the search for a new president for the college is on schedule and that he expects to have a new leader onboard by November, as planned.

Currently, the consulting firm of Hunter-Hockaday & Associates of Broadway is on a tight time frame for accepting applications since the deadline comes at 5 p.m., Aug. 12.

Dr. Odom also serves on the board of North Carolina Community College Trustees, linking him to the firms that perform such searches and upon his recommendation; the trustees hired Hunter-Hockaday.

He added that costs of their services vary, dependent on whether it’s a broad-based or an abbreviated search. The college trustees selected to use the abbreviated search, which they expect to cost $10,000 to $12,000.

Dr. Odom also said the search consultants that have tremendous expertise and are extremely qualified to perform all kinds of screenings of the candidates.

RCCC seeks a president with the vision, skills, knowledge and executive experience to serve as a senior-level administrator who will assure continued excellence in leadership and development of the community college.

Ideally, the new leader would be one who is not only competent in terms of community college background, but who also understands the North Carolina Community College system. The candidate will be a person who &uot;blends&uot; and will be a community-minded person, according to Dr. Odom.

The candidate would also have to be competent in evaluating programs to determine the types of programs the college would offer. They would also have to be proficient in reaching out to the communities served by RCCC in Bertie, Gates, Hertford and Northampton counties.

As the chairman noted, salary for this position is commensurate with the candidate’s education and experience and it will be determined by the Board of Trustees. The last RCCC President, Dr. Mary C. Wyatt, was paid around $90,000 annually. Dr. Odom noted that figure was a combination of state and local monies.

Once Hockaday-Hunter & Associates completes their background checks and screens the applicants down to six, they will then turn those applications and resumes over to the RCCC Board of Trustees. They will interview each of the six candidates and narrow the field to three finalists that will be forwarded to the North Carolina state board for approval.

The new president will be selected from any of the three finalists, if they are approved by the state board.

Dr. Robert E. Bridges currently serves as Interim President of the college. He was unavailable to speak on the progress of the search because he is vacationing this week.

Bridges, President of Education Initiatives Inc. of Raleigh took over the temporary position May 2 and is contracted to work until November.

He became interim president following a state mandated 30-day period in which RCCC staff member Dr. Claudia H. Morris, Vice President of Planning and Advancement, served the college as its 30-day Acting President. That came on the heels of an abrupt resignation by Dr.

Mary C. Wyatt on March 29.