Executive Summary from Public Meetings

Completed by Joe O'Haver, facilitator

Public Meetings
October 3, 2007 - MCC Venice
October 9, 2007 - MCC Bradenton

CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES

Question :  What other challenges and opportunities do you believe the College will encounter in the next five to ten years?

Staffing:

• Maintaining ratios of F/T faculty/Maintaining adequate ratios of full time faculty in times of high enrollment growth/low funding situations
• Staffing-significant needs around succession, retirement and retention
• Maintaining a competitive salary schedule for all College employees
• Creative training/structure of staff to support growth

Diversity:

• Need to aggressively increase diversity of faculty and staff/all College employees
• Develop services to support recruitment of minority status students and faculty, ensuring services and structures are in place to support diversity of employees and students we are seeking to recruit and serve

Administration/Operations:

• Look at "cost/benefit" model/Moving from a "growth based" enrollment model to a more cost effective approach to program delivery
• Technical "currency" (computers)/Maintaining technological currency
• Maintaining the existing high level of success of MCC students transferring to 4-year colleges
• Balancing a College-wide philosophy with a need for more efficient campus based administration as Venice continues to grow
• Creative modes of delivering services and programs to LWR

Community/Partnership Building:

• Partnering with community organizations that affect MCC
• Recognition of need for continued partnering (such as with technical schools)
• Fundraising/getting out in the community/visibility (friend-making)
• Working with business and industry to encourage migration to this area/Working with Business and Community Leaders to attract new business and new jobs to our area.  Be a continuing partner in the workforce development of our region.
• Entrepreneurial efforts-creative ways to expand/build on services and develop "flexible"/creative strategies for course/service delivery
• Developing new partnerships to support high cost programs - health sciences, performing arts, etc. (i.e.; in Venice)
• Support performing arts/be a cultural resource

 

COMPETENCIES

Question:  What are the competencies-the skills, abilities attributes, experience and qualities that Manatee Community College and we, as the Board of Trustees, should be looking for in our next president?

Knowledge/Education:

• Familiarity with comparable enrollment issues associated with emerging/evolving "readiness" of students entering the CC system
• Recognition of/familiarity with the types of issues facing community colleges associated with trends in educational needs/readiness of students entering the community college system.
• Emphasis on "terminal degree"/doctorate (ie; Ed.D.or comparable)-which is an important measure of the College's commitment to educational excellence
• Fundamental business management skills
• At least an entry level knowledge and understanding of technology
• Someone who stays abreast of leading/cutting edge opportunities and positioning MCC accordingly
• A good "business head"-able to understand complexity of finance issues
• Someone with a good working knowledge of how government works and the College/government interface
• Recognition/incorporation of "data-based" measurement and decision-making

Work Experience:

• Hands on teaching experience
• Community College experience ("it's a different world")
• Community College experience especially within Florida
• Recent classroom/teaching experience
• Proven track record in fund raising/adept at fundraising/An ability to connect with and "impress" the "right" people to secure $$$ for the College
• Experience in managing a "multi-campus" institution
• A minimum of 10 years experience-in both college administration and teaching
• Someone with a track record on/commitment to building and sustaining both internal and eternal partnerships directed at student success
• Ideal candidate would have both Community College experience and business background
• Skilled in managing a "multi-campus" college
• Demonstrated stability in a similar post-someone with a demonstrated commitment to the "long term focus" of the College
• Demonstrated capacity/experience in good hiring process and practices-getting "the right people in the right seats on the bus"

Management/Leadership Style, Skills and Abilities:

• Capacity to generate and articulate a compelling mission and vision
• Capacity to build, maintain and lead an effective management team
• Ability to deal with/capitalize on diverse (*sometimes competing) interests within the College
• Someone committed to and able to capitalize on participative management and participative decision-making
• Someone supportive of a "shared governance" model-a participative leader who engages faculty, staff, and advisory personnel
• Someone committed to the "triple bottom line" of 1) people, 2) environment, and 3) economic profit
• An ability to recognize opportunities to "educate" the community and promote change (ie; around issues associated with diversity)-to be an effective change agent both inside and outside of the College
• Someone committed to maintaining the open "forums" with students/an attitude of "openness and accessibility" by students
• Integrity
• Strong verbal, written, and listening skills (communication)
• Political astuteness/political savvy
• Strong interpersonal skills
• The capacity to demonstrate value for the culture and history of MCC, while at the same time being willing to identify and support necessary change initiatives (*someone skilled at identifying and leading needed change initiatives-but not someone invested in making change for the sake of making change)
• An ability to "make things happen"
• Someone sensitive to and aware of the implications for the interface of technology with education-addressing both opportunities and challenges associated with that interface
• Someone who recognizes the importance of effective business management and entrepreneurship, but not at the sacrifice of a singularly strong emphasis on academic excellence (not straying from the commitment to academic excellence)
• Strong fundraising abilities-including charisma, listening skills, an ability to relate to and connect with diverse populations of people
• Able to lead, work with and pick organizational leaders who are "team players"-the capacity to select and lead talented teams.
• Comfort and ease connecting with diverse populations of people
• Someone committed to sustaining emphasis on professional development
• Continued emphasis on the importance of the College's "physical plant/physical space" (buildings, landscape, aesthetics) and the relationship of those elements to attracting students and creating an environment conducive to learning and academic excellence
• Recognition of "everyone's" contribution (ground crews, secretaries, support staff, etc.) to the educational process and the College as a whole
• The ability to seek out innovative solutions to emerging challenges and opportunities
• A demonstrated "passion" for the College
• Someone committed to not only increasing the diversity of the student population, but to developing/ensuring support services for those populations of recruits
• Someone who recognizes opportunities to partner not only with educational organizations, but with those involved in health sciences, performing and cultural arts
• Capacity to work with other area organizations to attract new business and jobs to the two county area
• Recognition that hires need to have both experience and education
• Willingness/capacity to be involved in community at multiple levels across diverse populations of people and organizations
• A collaborative style manager who is not reliant on a top-down model of management
• Someone who leads by example
• Someone who can link with, market, and articulate a compelling mission/vision of the College
• Someone with an openness to students (ie; maintenance of student "forums")
• Someone who is: student centered, data driven, performance based (the College "mantra")
• A willingness and capacity to recognize and embrace that the position is not an "8-5" job-requiring high energy, stamina and tenacity
• High personal integrity
• Ability and courage to make and stand by "tough decisions"
• Excellent communication skills, especially those associated with public/motivation speaking, writing abilities, and capacity to communicate effectively with faculty and staff.
• Relationships building: internally-with students, faculty and staff; externally-with organizations, donors and foundations, and "intra"-between the three geographic College sites
• Someone who can address and capitalize on the uniqueness of the three campuses while maintaining the sense of "one College"
• Someone familiar with the area/who has "lived" in the South (familiar with climate, geography, etc. to help minimize the risk of pulling up stakes after short tenure)
• A demonstrated commitment to doing their best each and every day
• Innovation/the capacity to "think outside the box"
• Courage and capacity to take on and manage change
• A sense of humor
• Someone who can, while maintaining a "single college" model, recognizes, addresses and supports the accomplishments, issues, and demands of the individual campuses
• A willingness to maintain a physical "presence" on all of the campuses-especially considering the rapid growth at the Venice campus
• Someone sensitive and responsive to evolving demographics and growth in the area
• A "forward thinker" committed to continued growth and excellence of the College
• Sensitivity to/appreciation for the role of athletics to "college life" and its relationship to support for the College
• A strong and good listener-a prerequisite to persuasiveness (*especially important as it regards working with foundations and in fund-raising activities)

Completed by Joe O'Haver, facilitator