Alamance Community College’s trustees have submitted the name of a possible candidate – whose identity they have not yet disclosed – for approval by the State Board of Community Colleges to serve as an interim president while a permanent successor to ACC president Dr. Algie Gatewood can be located.
Gatewood, 71, has announced that, after 10 years as ACC president, he will retire on June 30.
ACC trustees initially convened a special-called meeting last Thursday, which was continued on Friday, in order to formally accept Gatewood’s resignation, consider the appointment of an interim president, and discuss the process for conducting a search for a permanent president.
The trustees voted unanimously, 8-0, on Friday to offer the interim president position to “a candidate, as named in closed session,” but whose identity they haven’t publicly disclosed, pending approval by the State Board of Community Colleges (SBCC).
Tawanda Artis, general counsel for the North Carolina Community Colleges System, advised ACC’s trustees last week that they must follow the same process required for the selection of a permanent president – meaning that the identity of an interim president is to remain confidential until he or she is approved by the state board.
That provision within the SBCC code, which was adopted in October 2018 and amended in February 2020, states that “no college shall publicly communicate or publicly confirm or deny the name of the final candidate submitted to the SBCC for approval,” until the board votes to approve the candidate and notifies the community college of its approval.
The SBCC will likely consider the matter during its regularly-scheduled meeting later this month, Gatewood told the newspaper Wednesday afternoon. ACC plans to issue a Request for Proposals from consulting firms as soon as possible, he confirmed.
The name of an interim president at ACC could be announced by mid- to late-June, Gatewood said Wednesday.
ACC’s trustees voted 8-0 Friday to submit the name of a candidate for interim president to the SBCC for approval. Trustees Dr. Roslyn Crisp, Pete Glidewell, Sylvia Munoz, and Carl Steinbicker were absent.
Gatewood said in an earlier interview with The Alamance News that he hopes to take some time off and visit his children and grandchildren, but that he may do some higher education consulting at some point. Gatewood said he plans to continue living in Alamance County following his retirement.
