RANGELY I Four candidates being considered for president of Colorado Northwestern Community College were in the area this week touring campuses in Craig and Rangely and meeting CNCC employees and community members.
The Colorado Community College System leadership began the process in March to replace Russell George who announced he would be retiring as president of CNCC.
According to system President Dr. Nancy McCallin, to direct the search process, the Colorado Community College System hired Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), a national non-profit organization that focuses on community colleges executive searches.
She noted in an email that in the first month of the process, ACCT has collected applications and reviewed the submissions for qualified candidates. Qualified candidates were presented to the search committee that is comprised of college, community and system representatives.
The search committee held videoconference interviews with the most qualified candidates and selected semi-finalists for campus visits.
Two candidates were on campus Tuesday for in-person interviews, and another two candidates were on campus Wednesday.
By June or July a new CNCC president is expected to be named.
The four semi-finalists for the position are:
Dr. Debra Teachman
Teachman is currently vice president for academic affairs and student services at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Mt. Gay, W.V. Prior to her time in West Virginia, she spent 14 years at New Mexico State University Alamogordo (NMSUA), a comprehensive community college within the New Mexico State University System, with 10 of those years as vice president for academic affairs and one nine-month period as interim president during a presidential search. Dr. Teachman also spent six years as a full-time faculty member in English at Marshall University in Huntington W.V., after earning her Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Lisa Stich
Stich has more than 25 years of experience in higher education. Dr. Stich earned a doctorate in education from Capella University and her master’s in health administration from Cardinal Stritch College. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ripon College, and another bachelor’s in health record administration from Emory University. She is a 2014 graduate of the Executive Leadership Institute (ELI), of the League for Innovation in the Community College.
She started her higher education career in the classroom, teaching for three years at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee as assistant professor for health information administration. She moved to the two-year environment in 1991. Since that time, she has worked in leadership roles as associate dean and curriculum and assessment manager at Moraine Park Technical College in Wisconsin, administrator for institutional advancement at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Ore.; dean of health sciences at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo.; and vice president of academics and student services in Kalispell, Mont. Most recently, she completed five years as vice president of academics and student services at West Shore Community College in Scottville, Mich.
Ronald Granger
Granger has spent more than 30 years in education. He began his education career at Drexel High School in Missouri as a business instructor and coach. After 13 years of teaching and coaching at high schools in Missouri and Wyoming, he began a career in higher education at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., as a GED and adjunct instructor. In a short time he became a professor of business and moved up to division chair and then dean before becoming the vice president of finance in July 2008. In January 2012 Granger took his present position as the vice president of administrative services at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyo. Mr. Granger’s additional experience includes teaching business as an assistant professor at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, and working as the chief financial officer for a large construction firm in El Paso, Texas.
Ivan L. Gorne
Gorne joined Bates Technical College in September 2006 as vice president for student services. In addition to creating a Strategic Enrollment Management program, Gorne supervised academic advising, the assessment center, financial aid, registration and records, multi-cultural services, disabled student services, outreach services, worker retraining and facilities and operations. From August 2014 through July 2015, Gorne served as assistant to the president with interim assignments including chief instruction officer, point of contact for finance and administration, eLearning and libraries.
Prior to Bates, Gorne served as vice president for student services at Highline Community College from 2001-2005. Gorne came to HCC from Southern Oregon University (SOU) in Ashland, Ore., where he served as vice president for student affairs for three years.
