Southeast Arkansas College board trustees voted to pursue the services of the Association of Community College Trustees for its presidential search during a special meeting Thursday.
ACCT is a nonprofit group of governing community college boards across America. SEARK Board Chairwoman Rebecca Pittillo said the college has not contracted with ACCT but will reach out to the firm so it can approve a contract and start the search for President Steven Bloomberg’s successor in January.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg announced he would step down to become chancellor of the Kern Community College District in California. Bloomberg cited the opportunity to relocate closer to family members and serve a student body of more than 50,000, which would be about 50 times the student population at SEARK, for his upcoming departure.
“Obviously, we’ve grown as a college since Dr. Bloomberg has been in place,” Pittillo said. “We hate to see him go, but obviously he has a great opportunity in place, moving to a larger position as chancellor of the organization, being closer to family. It’s hard for us to be anything other than excited for him.”
Outgoing SEARK President Steven Bloomberg.Bloomberg’s last day will be Feb. 14, Pittillo said. She added the board wants to have a new president in place by June 1.
The board will meet again Jan. 17 to name an acting president, giving the board time to update its job description.
“We want to have a president that is capable of taking the initiatives in place over the last few years with Dr. Bloomberg’s presidency and moving forward with those and their leadership,” she said.
A key question SEARK trustees must address is whether to use a representative model or an outside firm to conduct its presidential search. Trustees said Bloomberg was selected and began his presidency in January 2018 after representatives visited his previous institution in Oklahoma City and talked with employers there about him.
“If we brought in the outside people, and they may want to get really involved, it would narrow down to what the board decided because the board is going to be the ultimate decider anyway,” trustee Rob Cheatwood said.
“If I’m not mistaken, the last time we did it, there were 40 or more applicants, and those who submitted to us gave us their resume and their history. We reviewed 40. We did that at home; we didn’t do that sitting here.”
After coming out of an executive session of about 90 minutes, Pittillo commented in open session: “We are much better prepared for a presidential search.” She also stressed the importance of each board member making a time commitment to the search.
In other business, the board accepted Bloomberg’s request to transfer funds from the college reserve toward a $350,000 payment as part of its 2018 purchase agreement to acquire the Seabrook Activity Center.
SEARK, Bloomberg said, made a $152,000 down payment in 2018, and the purchase agreement was extended for two years due to covid-19. Payments of $325,000 will be due March 31 and June 30.
“We have two different donors that we are working with right now on requesting funds to cover the rest of the purchase of Seabrook,” said Bloomberg, who did not identify the donors. “One of those donors will take action with their board in January. However, this payment is due Dec. 31. In the purchase agreement, we have 30 days to make the payment. However, if the payment is not received by Dec. 31, there is a 3 percent late charge.”
That amounts to $9,750, Bloomberg said, adding he’d like to not incur the fee.
Bloomberg said he intends to finish fundraising for Seabrook before he leaves his position.
“That way, the board and college administration will not have to be concerned about it,” he said.