President Paula Burns is a key figure for the Board of Governors and the search for a new board chair.
The search for higher power is underway.
Replacing former chair Randy Jespersen, who was in the position for five years is a tough task.
Lethbridge College’s Board of Governors is looking for a new chair, but not just anyone can fill the role.
President Paula Burns says the board chair needs to have the necessary proficiencies to be compatible with the board.
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“What we do is look across all board members to make sure we have all skillsets we need. When it comes to the board chair it is important that they have some leadership ability when it comes to running a board, good collaboration and relationship skills as well as being able to mediate conflict,” said Burns.
The board is currently made up of 10 members and any of those members can apply to become the board chair.
Burns says ideally they’d like to get four or five strong candidates to apply for the position before narrowing it down to the front runner.
The government has a role in narrowing down the applicants as they submit a list with rankings, then they work together to find the one who they both feel fits the best.
Even though finding a board chair is fairly urgent, Burns is comfortable knowing the board is in place and the search isn’t affecting students.
“We have a great board, governance is happening. It’s not affecting the students day to day. If we got to a point where we didn’t have a board chair, I wouldn’t even be concerned because we have solid board members who would be able to step in as an intern chair,” said Burns.
Gwen Wirth, communications manager at the college doesn’t have a seat on the board, but does a lot of the communicating when there are changes within.
Staff isn’t affected by the search for a new board chair either and the president of the college does most of the communicating back from board meetings.
“The only person that reports into the board as a whole from Lethbridge College is the president of the college. They oversee a lot of things at the strategic level and do a lot of work behind the scenes,” said Wirth.
With the deadline now passed, the sorting through process between the government and the college will begin.
When both sides agree on the candidate, interviews will happen. Then once they find someone who fits the bill, the position will be filled.
