College's presidency draws 47 applicants

Seven more people have applied for the president's position at East Arkansas Community College.

The new round brings the total number of applicants for the Forrest City college to 47. They are vying to replace Coy Grace, who said in May that he intended to retire after leading the college for nearly two decades.

The search comes as the community college is undergoing a merger with Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute, with which it shares a property line. The presidential post is also one of three such openings in the state: Southeast Arkansas Community College in Pine Bluff is also looking for a new leader, and Arkansas State University-Beebe will start a search for a chancellor in the spring.

At East Arkansas, a presidential search committee will ultimately recommend who will get the job, and the college's board of trustees will make the final hire. The committee has not yet met, but the members are individually reviewing the applications, said Lindsay Midkiff, the school's director of public relations and marketing.

The advertisement for the position states that salary is negotiable and that housing as provided.

Under the college's state appropriation bill, it can pay the new president up to $161,444 annually, though Arkansas Code Annotated 6-63-309 allows some exceptionally qualified people to earn up to 25 percent more than the line-item appropriated amount. Institutions also can supplement salaries through private funds.

At the end of his nearly two-decade tenure, Grace is earning an annual salary of $201,805 -- the 25 percent above the line-item maximum, according to his contract.

The newest applicants are:

• Jay Edwards, associate professor of business and leadership at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn.

• Paul Hutchins, president of Sampson Community College in Clinton, N.C., who announced his retirement from the post effective June 30, 2018.

• Joseph McCann, programs team manager at the Wyoming Community College Commission.

• Scott McKinney, vice president for administration and finance and the chief financial officer for Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C.

• Robert Miller, vice president for administration at East Mississippi Community College in Mayhew, Miss.

• Michael Turpin, vice president of instruction at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas.

• Bradford Williams, vice president of student services at Oklahoma State University's Oklahoma City campus.

Metro on 09/18/2017

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