Search committee selects three finalists for new Tennessee Board of Regents chancellor

The search committee for the next chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents system has recommended three finalists to the full Board to consider for the position.

They are:

• Dr. Shaun L. McKay, president of Suffolk County Community College in New York.
• Dr. Monty E. Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.
• Dr. Flora W. Tydings, president of Chattanooga State Community College.

The finalists’ resumes are available for public review on the TBR website at https://www.tbr.edu/hr/executivesearches/chancellor-tennessee-board-regents

The finalists were selected from among 41 applicants during three months of work by the 16-member search committee since it convened for the first time on Sept. 2. From the original applicant pool, the committee narrowed the list of candidates for interviews and further review, and then selected the three finalists.

The full 18-member Tennessee Board of Regents will select the new chancellor, at a special meeting likely to be called later in December. A 2012 state statute, T.C.A. 49-7-154, requires the finalists to be made public 15 calendar days before the Board’s final vote.

The chancellor is the chief executive officer of the TBR system, managing the system and providing strategic leadership in accordance with the Board’s policies and direction.

The search committee was chaired by Governor Bill Haslam, who is also chair of the Board of Regents. The committee included five other members of the Board of Regents; representatives of TBR campus presidents and directors, faculty, students and alumni, and business and community representatives.

“The next chancellor will lead the Board of Regents system through full implementation of the FOCUS Act, which sharpens the system’s focus on the Drive to 55 – equipping 55 percent of working-age Tennesseans with a college degree or certificate by 2025,” Governor Haslam said.

“Given the importance of the chancellor’s role, we are pleased with the quality of the finalists our committee has selected. I want to thank the 15 other members who have given weeks of their time and effort to this intensive process, and I look forward to Board’s selection and working with the next chancellor.”

The Board hopes to have a new chancellor in office in early 2017, succeeding Acting Chancellor David Gregory, who is retiring after nearly 19 years of service at TBR and a total of 34 years in state government.

Gregory was appointed acting chancellor Feb. 1, 2016, after the retirement of Chancellor John G. Morgan. Gregory joined state service in 1980, left for two years in the private sector, and joined TBR in May 1998 as vice chancellor for administration and facilities development.

The Board approved criteria for the next chancellor at its June 24 quarterly meeting. The Board selected Greenwood/Asher & Associates, an executive search and consulting firm, to assist in the search.

The new chancellor will continue to oversee the system’s transition under the FOCUS Act (Focus on College and University Success), which Governor Haslam proposed last December and the General Assembly approved in April.

The FOCUS Act supports the state’s Drive to 55 initiative to increase the number of working-age Tennesseans with a postsecondary degree or certificate to 55 percent by 2025, up from the current 38 percent. The Act creates new governing boards of trustees for each of the six universities that are currently part of the TBR system and focuses the Board’s work on the system’s 13 community colleges and 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.

The three finalists will meet informally with TBR staff and campus representatives next week.

Members of the chancellor search committee were:

Governor Bill Haslam
TBR BOARD CHAIR
Nashville, TN

Regent Emily J. Reynolds
TBR BOARD VICE CHAIR
Nashville, TN

Regent Mary Lou Apple
TBR BOARD MEMBER
Tullahoma, TN

Regent Greg Duckett
TBR BOARD MEMBER
Memphis, TN

Regent Tom Griscom
TBR BOARD MEMBER
Chattanooga, TN

Regent Danni Varlan
TBR BOARD MEMBER
Knoxville, TN

Dr. Alisa White, President
Austin Peay State University
TBR SYSTEM REPRESENTATIVE
Clarksville, TN

Dr. Janice Gilliam, President
Northeast State Community College
TBR SYSTEM REPRESENTATIVE
Blountville, TN

Mr. Roland Rayner, Director
Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Memphis
TBR SYSTEM REPRESENTATIVE
Memphis, TN

Ms. Renee Stewart, Associate Vice Chancellor for Business & Finance
TBR SYSTEM OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE
Nashville, TN

Mr. Tony Hamblin
Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Jacksboro
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE
Jacksboro, TN

Mr. Bill Summons
Southwest Tennessee Community College
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE
Memphis, TN

Darryl Van
Volunteer State Community College
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
Nashville, TN

Commissioner Randy Boyd
Department of Economic and Community Development
BUSINESS/COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE
Nashville, TN

Ms. Joelle Phillips
President, AT&T
BUSINESS/COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE
Nashville, TN

Mr. Joey Hatch
Executive Vice President/General Manager
Skanska USA Building, Inc.
ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE
Nashville, TN