Wilson Community College President Tim Wright announced earlier this year that he will retire on June 1, 2023. Dr. Wright took the helm in 2015 and has nearly 32 years working in community colleges in North Carolina and Wyoming. He is surely going to be missed, and he is leaving is mark, his legacy on the College.
Now the presidential search begins, and as you can imagine, it’s an extensive process.
The WCC Board of Trustees issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) this summer, and after review of proposals received, narrowed down to three search consultant firms to give presentations to the Board. Last week the Board voted on Executive Leadership Associates (ELA) to lead our presidential search. The firm is based in Emerald Isle, NC, and is a partnership of six retired community college presidents.
In ELA’s last four presidential searches, 45 percent of finalists were women and 20 percent were minorities. The firm also shared that about 33 percent of presidents they have placed have been women.
So what’s next? The Board of Trustees will approve a presidential profile and qualifications, and ELA, as the consulting firm, will help the Board create a local search committee, comprised of WCC stakeholders.
The opening will be listed on our website and other outlets, and once ELA receives applications, the consultants will pick the most promising candidates. Those applications are then sent to the search committee for further review. All applications will undergo careful review, reference checks, and internet and social media searches.
The Board will then ultimately select which candidates to interview, and once the finalists are determined, it is then made public who is in the running for WCC’s next president. The process then moves on to campus visits, candidate forums, interviews, and more.
Each candidate selected as a finalist will spend a full day on the College campus and out in the community. While on campus, there will be public forums for WCC employees, students, and the community to meet him/her and ask questions. At the end of those visits, the Board conducts a formal interview with the candidate.
And once all interviews have been done, the Board of Trustees then meet to determine and approve who is selected and begin securing a contract. The name is then sent to the State Board of Community Colleges for approval.
It’s important to note that this is the typical process for a presidential search.
As you can see, there is much work to do. We are confident that Executive Leadership Associates, the Board of Trustees, the search committee, and our Wilson family will find the next great leader for Wilson Community College. In the meantime, we’re going to enjoy the time we have with our leader, Dr. Tim Wright.
If you have questions or would like more information about the process or about the College, visit our website at www.wilsoncc.edu or give us a call at (252) 291-1195. #WilsonCC We make Wilson work.
What’s Happening
- August 10-17 – Registration (Fall and Winter Semesters)
- August 15 – First Day of Classes