By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun.com
AVON PARK -- Members of the South Florida State College's District Board of Trustees took the first step Tuesday morning in their search for a college president to replace retiring Dr. Norman Stephens.
Board chairperson Tami Cullens led the meeting, telling the trustees the final decision of whom to hire is up to them.
However, a screening committee is being set into place whose task will be to whittle down the long list of original candidates to a short list of five or six, whom the trustees will interview and form whom they will choose.
The screening committee is big, comprised of 24 individuals. Developing the list of members took time as every one of the college constituencies need to be involved.
SFSC serves three counties: Highlands, DeSoto and Hardee. Therefore it was essential that at least two representatives from all counties be included. Additionally, college admission and faculty members, students, members of the business community and educators involved in secondary schools have also been invited to join. A special effort was made to ensure minorities and both sexes are represented.
No one on the screening committee member list has yet been officially informed of the honor. In fact, Stephens said most of them may not even know they were being considered.
Much of the committee's work will be done online, such as reading resumes. Work meetings will not begin until after Valentine's Day and will be open to the public.
There is a meeting scheduled for noon on Dec. 5 so the committee can meet the guiding consultant Jeff Hockaday to go over the process and rules.
Cullens told the trustees that as of Nov. 13, there had been 10 "very strong" candidates who have sent in resumes.
"Two of them are from Florida," she said, "eight are from everywhere else, including West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Montana and Oregon. Some are all ready (college) presidents, some are vice-presidents.
"Hockaday said we're just scratching the service, there will be more applicants," Cullens added. "He says we're doing well."
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - www.newssun.com/111412-ct-SFSC