The Tennessee Board of Regents recently announced the qualifications for becoming Tech’s next president.
TBR had their quarterly board meeting on Sept. 23, where they voted on the criteria for President Bell’s successor.
For this position, the TBR prefers are an earned doctorate from an accredited institution, a distinguished record of teaching and experience in public higher education (including graduate education), and a minimum of five years of successful campus administrative experience.
Monica Greppin, communications director of TBR, said that while there are numerous qualifications in the listed criteria, all are equally important.
Along with Tech, two other TBR schools, Tennessee State University and East Tennessee State University, are also going through the process of finding a new president. Each school is looking for a president who best fits their mission and goals.
“They are different institutions with different institutional missions and visions,” Greppin said.
The presidential search at Tech also differs from the other TBR schools because it has a different Carnegie classification. While TSU and ETSU are classified as Doctoral/Research institutions, Tech is classified as a Masters-Large institution.
With these characteristics and classifications, the TBR has made the search criteria specific to each school.
“Each university offers specialized programs and serves unique audiences within its geographic region,” Greppin said.
The next step of the search process is appointing a TBR board member as chairperson of the search committee. Governor Bill Haslam will oversee this process. Once the board member is appointed, they will then decide on nominees for the committee.
Although Bell’s retirement is effective July 1, 2012, there is currently no proposed timeline to begin the initial screening of applicants or to select the next president.
“The successful candidate will be a dynamic, innovative and energetic leader with the vision, skills and integrity required to guide TTU to higher levels of achievement,” Greppin said.
For more information on the presidential search at Tech, visit http://www.tntech.edu/president/search/.
