Tennessee Board of Regents to meet Jan. 31 to consider criteria for next president of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold a special called meeting Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, to review and consider approving criteria for the next president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton.

The meeting will be held by videoconference, starting at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET, and will be livestreamed and archived on the Tennessee Board of Regents website at https://www.tbr.edu/board/january-31-2022-special-called-board-meeting. The proposed criteria and search details are now posted at the same link.  Anyone needing access to the videoconference itself, other than the livestream viewing, may contact Board Secretary Mariah Perry at mariah.perry@tbr.edu by 11 a.m. CT, Jan. 31.

TCAT Elizabethton President Dean Blevins has announced his upcoming retirement, effective June 24, 2022, after nearly 13 years of service as the college’s president – the sixth president since TCAT Elizabethton’s opening in 1965. Blevins began his career at the college 35 years ago as an industrial electricity and electronics instructor.

TCAT Elizabethton has extension campuses in Kingsport and Mountain City and provides a broad range of career and technical education training programs.

The Board’s approval of criteria for the next president is the first step in the presidential search process. After approval, the position will be posted for applications and nominations. And a search advisory committee composed of two to four members of the Board of Regents plus representatives of the college’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, and business and civic leaders from the area will be appointed to review applicants, conduct interviews and recommend finalists to the TBR chancellor. The finalists will be publicly announced and will participate in campus forums.

After reviewing input from the forums, the campus community and the public, and further interviewing the finalists, TBR Chancellor Flora W. Tydings will recommend a single candidate to the board for its consideration for appointment. The Board expects to name the next president before President Blevins’ retirement to ensure a smooth transition at the college.

Members of the search committee will be announced following their selection, along with the date of the committee’s first meeting, which will include a public forum to outline the search process.

For more information about TCAT Elizabethton: https://tcatelizabethton.edu/