College has six president finalists

From the The Brunswick News

The search committee to find a new president for College of Coastal Georgia has narrowed its list to six.

"They all have outstanding backgrounds," said Andrea Wallace, chemistry professor at the college and chair of the search committee to recommend possible successors to president Valerie Hepburn, who is joining the University System of Georgia staff.

The six finalists are:

• Bennie Harris, vice president for development and alumni relations at Lipscomb University in Nashville.
• Stanley Preczewski, vice president for academic and student affairs at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville.
• Beth Weatherby, vice president for academic and student affairs at Southwest Minnesota State University at Marshall, Minn.
• Gregory Aloia, president of Concord University at Athens, W.Va.
• Bruce Murphy, vice president for academic affairs at the U.S. Air Force Air University at Montgomery, Ala.
• Robert McGehee, graduate school dean at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock, Ark.

Wallace says all of the finalists have the same vision for growth that Hepburn has pursued during her five years at the college. "We want to stay on the same path we have been on," Wallace said.

The six finalists individually will visit the college's Brunswick and Camden County campuses, beginning Monday, to meet with faculty, staff and students.

Each candidate will participate in a public forum during his or her visit. The visits will be spread over the next two weeks.

"It's very exciting," Wallace said. After interviews and campus visits are complete, Wallace says the search committee will recommend three to five candidates to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents from which to make an appointment.

The recommendation should be made sometime in early April, Wallace said.

The recommended candidates will be interviewed by Chancellor Hank Huckaby and regents will choose the new president, who will become president when Hepburn leaves at the end of the academic year, in May.

Hepburn has been president of the college since 2008. She has overseen its transition from a two-year community college to a four-year baccalaureate institution, with explosive growth in enrollment and buildings on the Brunswick campus.

Each candidate for president of College of Coastal Georgia will participate in a public forum during his or her visit. All forums will be in Room 102 of the Jones Building on the Brunswick campus. The dates and times are:

• Bennie Harris, ice president for development and alumni relations at Lipscomb University, 3:45 p.m. Monday.
• Stanley Preczewski, vice president for academic and student affairs at Georgia Gwinnett College, 3:45 p.m., Wednesday.
• Beth Weatherby, vice president for academic and student affairs at Southwest Minnesota State University, 3:45 p.m., Friday.
• Gregory Aloia, president of Concord University, 3:45 p.m. March 25.
• Bruce Murphy, vice president for academic affairs at the U.S. Air Force Air University, 3:45 p.m. March 27.
• Robert McGehee, graduate school dean at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 3:45 p.m. March 29.

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