Kudos BCC for being open about president search

Brunswick Community College officials, particularly all those involved in the search for the new college president, allow us to pat you on the back.

If you’re recent decisions about how you’ve been handling the search for the new college leader continue as they have, you’re going to knock this one out of the park.

After former BCC president Stephen Greiner announced he was leaving BCC to pursue another opportunity to lead a Kentucky college, BCC officials quickly grouped to come up with a plan to search for his replacement.

Along the way, officials have been open with the discussion, first allowing the public to comment on what characteristics they hope to see in the next person who will lead this community’s highest learning institution.

After receiving applicants and narrowing down the candidate pool, BCC recently announced it had six candidates in the final spots to vie for the job.

While some larger colleges and universities have opted to be hush-hush about the presidential recruiting efforts, BCC helped gather public confidence by releasing the names of the final six.

Further, they went on to release those people’s photos and background information.

Now the community at large and the college’s staff and faculty have further opportunities to be involved. They can meet the six candidates during a series of meet and greets as they move through the final rounds of the interview process.

That’s what we call being open and transparent.

That’s exactly what we’d like to see other institutions that receive tax dollars for funding do.

The community has the right to know just who is being considered to lead important programs in the future. It helps build trust among officials and the general public, but more importantly, it gives the public a chance to feel like they have a vested interest in the process, not just hearing about the decision after it’s been made.

 We look forward to seeing who gets the final nod from BCC and we hope with all of the effort that’s gone into the screening process, the next leader will be ready and eager to move Brunswick Community College into the next phase of its ever-changing, ever-growing, ever-demanding existence.