1. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to outline a process that transitions leadership of the college in the event of a planned or unplanned departure of the current president.
  2. PLANNED DEPARTURE: To assure an orderly transition of leadership, the president’s contract shall contain a provision requiring notice of no less than 60 days prior to departure, not to include the use of accumulated vacation days.
  3. UNPLANNED DEPARTURE: If the current president’s departure is unplanned, the Board of Trustees will take immediate action to appoint interim leadership from among the vice presidents. During that period, the Board will consult with appropriate higher education organizations (e.g. ACCT), to identify and subsequently appoint an interim president, which could come from the in-house, interim selection, until the search and selection of a new president is completed.  The interim president will be asked to remain in place until the workday prior to the new president taking office.
  4. A PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH will be conducted using the services provided by a firm specializing in presidential searches, or conducted by the Board. These services would include advertising, screening, verifying credentials, reference checks, and preliminary interviews and narrowing the list to a group of finalists.
    1. Candidates could be interviewed via video teleconferencing and the selection narrowed to an appropriate number of candidates who would be summoned to the campus for interview, from which a selection is made.
  5. APPOINTMENT OF AN INTERNAL INTERIM PRESIDENT from among the current vice presidents will be based upon an interview by the Board of Trustees and a review of their personnel records. Under no circumstances will other college employees or college patrons be consulted in this selection.
  6. BASED ON THE CURRENT PRACTICE, The Vice President, selected will perform all duties and functions of the presidency as required by law and as noted in Board/Administrative policies with the exception of financial transactions and purchases as specified in Board Policies 3-06 and 3-07.
  7. UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCE: In the event that the selected Vice-President, is unable to or desires not to fill the position of interim president, the board will appoint an interim president from the other vice-presidents or have the option to hire an interim from outside of PCC.
  8. CURRENT ISSUES AND OPERATIONAL POLICIES: The president shall operate in a manner that assures that the vice-presidents and the Administrative Assistant to the President are knowledgeable and current on the key issues – local, state and Federal – that impact the college. In addition, the Administrative Assistant to the President is to be made aware of and have access to supporting documentation and recurring actions/reports that are generally handled by the president.
  9. This succession plan will be filed with the Personnel Director, the Administrative Assistant to the President/Clerk of the Board, and the Board chair. In the event of an unplanned departure, the succession plan will be automatically implemented within 24 hours unless otherwise directed by the chair of the Board of Trustees. 

X  This policy revised on:  08-10-2020, 08-13-2018, 07-18-2016, 06-18-2012

Board Policy
5-07
507