By Kathryn Reed

Who the next president of Lake Tahoe Community College will be may not be known for some time, but the board is likely to decide June 8 on a process for finding that person.

At a special board meeting Wednesday morning the board accepted the resignation of President Paul Killpatrick. His last day is July 16. He has taken a job with a community college in Washington.

At the meeting June 2, a large contingent of faculty and classified employees expressed a desire to have an interim president. The idea they proposed was to have Sue Niehoff, vice president of Business Services who has been at the college since February, and Tom Greene, who starts as VP of Academic Affairs and Student Services this summer, share the duties of president.

An interim president by statute could have the position for a year, with the possibility of extending it another year if certain criteria are met.

More public input will be sought next Tuesday.

With Killpatrick’s departure being six weeks away it would be near impossible to have a permanent replacement in place. The board will have to decide what to for the short term as well.

Other considerations are whether the search will be handled internally or via a consultant. With so many jobs having already been consolidated, the burden of being on a presidential search team could be too great.

Plus, the college is ramping up for the fall accreditation process, the introduction of an all-consuming software system and is in the throes of a budget crisis. Summer is not the ideal recruiting time for this level of position — December, into spring is when larger pools of candidates can often be found.

The meeting is at 6pm June 8 in the Aspen Room.