Tennessee Board of Regents to hold special meeting May 30 to consider appointment of new president of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold a special called meeting Wednesday, May 30, to consider the appointment of a new president at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro.

Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings will recommend Dr. Jon D. Mandrell for the Murfreesboro presidency. Mandrell is currently vice president of academics and student services at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Ill., where he has worked in a number of teaching and administrative roles since 2008.

The Board will meet at 10 a.m. May 30 at the TBR system office at 1 Bridgestone Park in Nashville, just west of the Lebanon Pike-Briley Parkway interchange. Interested persons may also listen to the meeting by telephone by requesting call-in information from Board Secretary Sonja Mason no later than 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Sonja.Mason@tbr.edu or 615.366.3927  

Mandrell holds a Doctor of Education degree in community college leadership from Ferris State University in Michigan, and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, both in law enforcement and justice administration from Western Illinois University.

Prior to entering higher education, Mandrell served as a police corporal in the Oregon, Ill., Police Department, supervising patrol officers, representing the department as a liaison with K-12 education and managing a juvenile offender program. He became an adjunct instructor in criminal justice, juvenile delinquency and cultural diversity at Sauk Valley Community College in 2008, and then joined the faculty full-time as an assistant professor of criminal justice a year later.

In June 2012, he became the college’s dean of instructional services, and was named dean of academics and student services in 2014. The title was changed to vice president of academics and student services in 2016.

The chancellor’s recommendation follows a national search led by a 13-member Search Advisory Committee the Board appointed in March. The committee was chaired by Regent Joey Hatch and included two other members of the Board of Regents and representatives of the college’s faculty, staff, students, the community and local business.

The committee received and reviewed applications from across the nation before submitting three finalists to the chancellor for final interviews. Her recommendation must be acted upon by the full Board.

The president is the chief executive officer of the college, reporting to the Board of Regents through the chancellor. Dr. Lynn Kreider retired as president of the college February 28. Dr. Carol Puryear, TBR vice chancellor for economic and community development and a former director of TCAT Murfreesboro, is serving as interim president until the next president takes office. The Board of Regents approved criteria for the next president at its December meeting.