The national search for a president of Lamar Community College (LCC) has begun, announced Dr. Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS).  The search is necessary to replace John Marrin, who is retiring, after eight years at the helm of LCC. 

"We are excited to start the search," McCallin said. "The position is being widely advertised in both local and national media sources. This is a first-rate college that is known for offering students greater value and personal attention.”

Under the leadership of John Marrin, the college has strengthened its financial management and continues to have great growth potential with the opening of the new resident hall set for July 2016.

“We are looking for strong leadership that will continue to enhance the financial viability of LCC we have in place and a commitment to quality education and an understanding of rural communities,” McCallin said.  “We believe we will be able to recruit a highly qualified group of applicants for consideration for this position.  The State Board and CCCS will be working collaboratively with the college employees, students and local community throughout the process to find the individual who will be the best fit for Lamar Community College.”

CCCS has hired Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), a national non-profit organization that focuses on community college executive searches, to direct the search process.  ACCT will collect the applications and they will be reviewing the submissions for qualified candidates.  Only the qualified candidates’ applications will be forwarded to the search committee. CCCS presidential searches place a high emphasis on community input. The search committee is comprised of college representatives and community and system representatives.  Members of the search committee are:

From the qualified applications, the search committee will hold videoconferencing interviews with the candidates they select.

After the videoconferences, the committee will narrow the field by consensus and invite that pool of candidates to the college for community forums, one-on-one meetings with the committee, faculty, students, and administration staff.  The college will host a reception for all the candidates to meet and get to know community members.  Based on the feedback from all these events, the committee will forward names to Dr. McCallin, who, in consultation with the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE) will make the selection for the next LCC president. 

It is anticipated that a new president can be named by July 31, 2016.