Presidential search narrowed to four candidates

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (May 25, 2011) -  Daytona State College’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee has narrowed its pool of candidates from nine to four, following two days of interviews earlier this week.

The finalists selected by the 22-member committee  in, alphabetical order, are: Roslyn Artis, executive vice president of Mountain State University (W.Va.); Drew Bennett, chancellor, Missouri State University-West Plains; Carol Eaton, president of Frederick Community College (Md.) and Irby "Skip" Sullivan, president, West Georgia Technical College.

Selection Committee Chairman T. K. Wetherell said the finalist candidates most closely fit the leadership needs of the college and clearly stood out among search committee members.
 
The search committee, its charge now complete, was assisted by Dr. Robert Parilla, a consultant with Academic Search, a nationally known firm with expertise in recruiting senior-level higher education administrators.

Each finalist’s letter of application and resume will now be sent to members of the college’s District Board of Trustees. The candidates will return to Daytona Beach with their spouses during the week of June 20 for interviews with internal and external college constituent groups and the Board of Trustees, which is expected to choose the next president of Daytona State College no later than Saturday, June 25.

For more information, please call (386) 506-4408, or email mercerl@daytonastate.edu. 

Presidential candidate finalist bios

Roslyn C. Artis, J.D., Ed.D. - Dr. Artis is an attorney who practiced law from 1995 to 2003 before embarking on a career in academia. As senior academic officer for Distance Education at Mountain State University, she was responsible for the university's online and independent study programs as well as MSU's branch campuses. She also has served as vice president of Advancement and president of the Mountain State University Foundation. She is now executive vice president and chief academic officer responsible for oversight of all academic deans, faculty, courses and programs for all Mountain State University locations. Dr.  Artis earned a B.A. in Political Science (magna cum laude) from West Virginia State University; a J.D. from West Virginia University School of Law and; an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University, where she was valedictorian of her class.

 

Drew Bennett, Ph.D - Dr. Bennett has been chancellor of Missouri State University – West Plains since 2007. He received his B.A. in History from Tulane University, his M.S. in Human Relations from Golden Gate University, his M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and his Ph.D. in Adult and Extension Education from Texas A&M University. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he rose to the rank of colonel, commanding infantry units at every level from platoon to regiment and working on Service, Joint (multi-service), and Combined (US and allied) Staffs. Under Dr. Bennett’s leadership, Missouri State University-West Plains was selected for two years in a row as “A Great College To Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and was recently ranked among the top 120 two-year colleges in the United States by the Aspen Institute.

Carol Eaton, Ph.D. - Dr. Eaton is the president of the Frederick Community College in Frederick, Md. Before that, she was vice chancellor of community colleges at the State Universities of New York (SUNY). During her tenure at SUNY, Dr. Eaton was responsible for completing the SUNY Community College Strategic Plan, conducting a SUNY-wide Community College Nursing Survey, fostering new relations with SUNY's community colleges and the State Department of Labor for workforce development, and instrumental on SUNY's Capital Funding Taskforce. Prior to her position as vice chancellor, Dr. Eaton was president of Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, NY. She also has experience teaching mathematics. Her Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. are from SUNY Albany and she also holds an A.A.S. degree from SUNY Cobleskill.

Irby Sullivan, Ed.D.  – Dr. Sullivan has been president of West Georgia Technical College since 2006. Previously, he was chief academic officer at Miller College in Michigan and provost at Glenville State College in West Virginia. He also was dean and chief academic officer of Miller College, located on the Battle Creek campus of Kellogg Community College, Michigan, where his responsibilities also included instructional programming, economic and workforce development, student services and fundraising. He also worked in the transportation industry for 17 years and has taught psychology at the Heart of Georgia Technical College in Dublin, where he served as chair for Academic and Developmental Studies and was the college's teacher of the year in 1999. He has an Ed.D. from University of Georgia, an M.S. from Fort Valley State, and a B.A. fromTennessee Temple University.

Daytona State among hosts of June suicide prevention conference

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (May 23, 2011) - College administrators, deans, counselors, school district officials and human service professionals from throughout Florida will converge at Daytona State College next month for “A Matter of Life & Death: Suicide Prevention Conference for College Campuses.”

The conference, scheduled June 2 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and June 3 from 9 a.m. – noon at the News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach St. in Daytona Beach, is being hosted by Daytona State and Seminole State colleges, as well as the University of Central Florida, Daytona Beach Campus. The institutions are working in partnership under a federal Garrett Lee Smith College Campus Suicide Prevention Grant intended to help states, tribes, colleges and universities develop and implement strategies to reduce suicide among young people.

“By better understanding the extent of the problem and potential prevention strategies, colleges can help protect their students against suicide,” said Tony Deobil, a coordinator for Project SPEAK (Suicide Prevention Education and Knowledge), the three-institution suicide prevention program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant. “The educational objective of the conference is to highlight the significance of the issue of suicide prevention on college campuses and provide practical strategies to help develop campus-specific infrastructure.  It is our intent to provide walk-away strategies which are customizable and implementable to meet the needs of individual schools.”

In addition to general discourse regarding the state of suicide prevention programs on America’s college campuses, topics to be covered also include intervention strategies for specific student demographic groups, such as veterans, people with eating disorders, and gay, lesbian and transgender populations. Workshops will focus on employee training strategies, working with local mental health service agencies, setting up evaluation systems to measure the effectiveness of campus suicide prevention programs, collaboration with faith groups, and more.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students; however, many colleges lack a specific suicide prevention initiative on their campuses.  Fortunately, many of the keys to preventing suicides are found in strategies that raise awareness concerning suicide prevention, normalize discussions surrounding mental health issues, and reduce the stigma associated with seeking help.

For more information, or to register online, visit the conference website at http://www.daytonastate.edu/projectspeak/MatterofLifeandDeath.html. Or, contact Deobil at (386) 506-4218, email: deobila@DaytonaState.edu.

Presidential candidate interviews under way

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (May 23, 2011) - Daytona State College’s Presidential Search Committee this week begins preliminary interviews with candidates seeking to lead the institution into the future.

Nine candidates who have been selected on the basis of their application from a larger group of 45 individuals who applied are scheduled to be on campus Monday and Tuesday, May 23 and 24.

Five candidates are scheduled to be interviewed today starting at 8:30 a.m., with the day’s last candidate scheduled at 5:15 p.m. Interviews for the other four candidates begin Tuesday at 8 a.m., with the last candidate scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Interviews are scheduled for 90 minutes each, with an additional 30 minutes reserved for discussion among committee members.

 The interviews will take place in the Mori Hosseini College of Hospitality Management (bldg. 1200), rm. 108, on the Daytona Beach Campus, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd.

Upon  completion of this week’s preliminary interviews, the search committee will select approximately four finalists who will be recommended to the District Board of Trustees. These candidates will be invited to participate in more extensive on-campus interviews with the board and a broad range of constituents the week of June 20.

The board and search committee are being assisted by Dr. Robert Parilla, a consultant with Academic Search, a nationally known firm with expertise in recruiting senior-level higher education administrators.

For more information, please call (386) 506-4408, or email mercer@daytonastate.edu.