A picture began to emerge Thursday about the kind of qualities the community, business owners, faculty and staff want in Allen Community College’s next president.
“What came across loud and clear today is that this person needs to be a dealmaker,” said Ed Massey, a search consultant who led a series of public forums Thursday. “The college needs to be more of a major player in the community than it seems to be today.”
More than 100 people shared their “wish lists” in a series of meetings Thursday, and another 40 or so answered an online survey seeking similar information.
A nonprofit organization, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), is conducting a national search with a goal to hire a new president in January. ACCT representatives led the conversations and were helping Allen trustees develop a profile for potential candidates Friday. The profile will be posted online and used in recruitment efforts. The application deadline is Oct. 16.
A majority of those who shared their opinions were faculty and staff at the college. A much smaller number of community members attended, and even then, most had some sort of tie to the college. For example, the day’s first two meetings included 35 and 25 people, respectively, mostly faculty and staff. Another 25 watched online. A crowd of just 11 attended the final meeting Thursday evening; all but three either work for the college or currently serve as trustees and committee search members.
“We’ve had a lot of good feedback. People seem to be engaged in the process,” said Jessica Thompson, search committee chair.
Perhaps the lack of attendance from community members is a reflection of one of the most common refrains from those who spoke Thursday: The next president needs to engage the community and develop partnerships.
Massey summarized repeated themes that emerged, listing some of the challenges mentioned and how the next president might be called upon to address them.
The entire Southeast Kansas region continues to lose population. That means fewer students are graduating from high schools to continue their education. Their needs are changing, too, with many looking for skills that enable them to join the workforce quickly. 
Because businesses and industries need more workers with technical skills like automotive, plumbing, electrical and welding it would seem a perfect match.
A lack of affordable housing and transportation, however, often complicates the hiring process.
To help bridge the gap, the next college president needs to understand the challenges of rural communities as well as technical education, Massey said.
The new president also must understand legislative issues at the state and federal level, and be willing to lobby on the college’s behalf both inside the community and in bigger arenas. They must understand fundraising through grants and endowments.
“The people we talked to want them to have a community college background, preferably somewhere like this. The person must be very honest, ethical, and get out and do these partnerships,” Massey said, and then joked, “The president who can meet all this will be a heck of a person.”
FACULTY AND staff jumped right into the morning discussion, with several airing grievances over the previous administration led by Dr. Bruce Moses. He resigned in June after two years at the helm. Previously, Allen had been led for 30 years by John Masterson, who returned as interim president. The two leaders have very different styles. Several praised Masterson’s more personal touch. For example, a student said she was surprised when Masterson stopped to visit her group of friends at lunch the other day.
