NSCS’s Turman holds pre-search sessions for presidential post

Nebraska State College System (NSCS) Chancellor Paul Turman spoke with faculty and students about the upcoming CSC presidential search during the all constituents listening session Wednesday afternoon.
During the meeting Turman gave a timeline to students and faculty said that the presidential search will launch in December, with recruitment and application reviews ending by early February. Interviews will begin in mid-February and end in mid-March. By early April, the search committee will have finalist selected, with the new president will step in on July 1.
“Ultimately, it does need to be someone I need to work with, but it also needs to be someone the college community supports,” Turman said.
He said that the new president will be taking over a lot of construction and improvement projects that will be underway on campus over the next few years, such as the renovation of Memorial Hall, which is already being planned, and the demolition and building of a new High Rise.
“I want to make sure the next president understands the system’s goals and can translate them to the college,” Turman said.

Following Turman’s explanation of the NSCS’s search plans, he opened the floor with questions about what people at the meeting thought the next president should be like.
Faculty and students at the meeting expressed that they would like to have a president that find ways to keep enrollment up, add new programs like computer science, change existing programs to evolve with the work force, and align resources to help with some departments being short staffed.
Student Senate President Olivia Bryant, 21, senior of Anselmo, said that she would like to see someone with an expertise on first generation and international students.
Ted Tewahade, associate athletic director, said that he wanted to see the next president be involved in the community.
“I think part of their personality we’re looking for would be to embrace our tight-knit community, be part of the student body, be seen going to the arts, athletics or community events,” Tewahade said. “I think this person needs to be part of the community instead of on top of it. They need to be engaging with the students.”
After the all constituents listening session, Turman met with CSC alumni and Chadron community members in an individual listening session. He will meet with students and faculty in separate listening sessions on Thursday.