Unlike when the board hired Kinney 11 years ago, it will not be using an outside search firm, board president Mark Crimmins said. Crimmins and other board members were involved with that search and feel that they can undertake the task themselves this time, saving the expense.

So far, the search is in its earliest stages, with the board of directors accepting applications from candidates until Jan. 28.

“We’re getting applications from all over the United States,” Crimmins said.

Once the applications are closed, the board will begin to cull through the submissions and start initial interviews in March or April. After those interviews, the board will select finalists to interview again in April or May.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert Former Iowa Central Community College President Dan Kinney left the college last week to take the helm at Iowa Western Community College.

The board of directors expects the next president to begin in July or August.

“We’re looking for someone who can run the college, can work within the community, has experience with business and industry, things like that,” Crimmins said. “The thing with Iowa Central, or any community college, is that it’s more than just what happens on campus and in the classroom.”

A community college, he said, has to serve all kinds of students, from 18-year-olds to older adults being retrained in other industries and more.

“So the president has to be pretty well-rounded,” Crimmins said. “I think it’s one of those things that we’ll know it when we see him or her.”

The Iowa Central Board of Directors is asking the surrounding community for its input in the process for choosing the next president of the college. The college has a survey available on its website for community members to fill out.

“It will be helpful to let us know what our community feels are the important issues at Iowa Central,” Crimmins said. “Everyone has a different opinion or a different belief on what is important out there based on their needs, so we thought we would put together this survey.”

The survey can be found at www.iowacentral.edu/PresidentSearch.

“There’s so many stakeholders at the college, we obviously can’t have everybody involved in the selection process, but we can certainly look at their responses to our survey so they can have some involvement in defining what’s important,” Crimmins said.

Until a replacement is named, the college’s four vice presidents will run Iowa Central, Crimmins said.

Angie Martin, vice president for finance and operations, will act as the liaison between the board of directors and the other vice presidents — Stacy Mentzer, vice president of instruction; Tom Beneke, vice president of enrollment management and student development; and Jim Kersten, vice president of external affairs and governmental relations.