Board of Regents to consider appointment of Kelli Chaney as president of TN College of Applied Technology at Knoxville

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings is recommending the appointment of Kelli A. Chaney, a Kentucky community college administrator, as the next president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Knoxville.

The Board of Regents will act on the recommendation in a previously announced, special called meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 13. The Board appoints presidents of all of the 13 community colleges and 27 colleges of applied technology in the College System of Tennessee, which the Board governs. The Board will meet at 10 a.m. CT in the first floor boardroom at the TBR System office at 1 Bridgestone Park in Nashville. The meeting is open to the public, and anyone interested may also listen via telephone conferencing. Contact TBR Communications Director Rick Locker at 615-366-4417 or rick.locker@tbr.edu for dial-in information.

Chaney is dean of career education and workforce development at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, Ky. She is a doctoral candidate this semester at Eastern Kentucky University, and earned her Master of Arts in Community College Leadership and her Bachelor of Business Administration degrees at Morehead State University. She earned an Associate of Arts degree at Prestonsburg Community College. Her complete resume and other information about the presidency and search process are available on the Presidential/Executive Searches section of the Tennessee Board of Regents website at https://www.tbr.edu/hr/executivesearches/president-tennessee-college-applied-technology-knoxville.

Chaney was one of two finalists for the TCAT Knoxville presidency selected Oct. 26 by a search advisory committee. The finalists visited the campus and met with the campus community last week. The chancellor gathered input from the campus and interviewed the finalists again before deciding on her recommendation.

Tuesday’s Board agenda also includes consideration of approval of the chancellor’s previously announced recommendation of Dr. Bethany H. Flora as the next president of Northeast State Community College. Flora is associate director of the Center for Community College Leadership at East Tennessee State University, where she also serves as an associate professor of postsecondary leadership in ETSU’s Clemmer College of Education.

The agenda also calls for consideration of approval of actions recommended by the Board’s Personnel and Compensation Committee on Nov. 9, including:

• Appointment of TCAT Jackson President Jeff Sisk to also serve as president of TCAT Whiteville, to succeed Whiteville President Carolyn Beverly, who is retiring Jan. 1.
• Approval of a $500 per month housing allowance for TCAT presidents.
• Approval of a salary equity adjustment for the president of TCATs Covington, Ripley and Newbern in recognition of her expanded responsibilities over the three campuses.
• Approval of a one-time salary payment for employees of some TCATs whose institutions did not meet a deadline for submitting such proposals to the Board’s quarterly meeting in September.