Presidential Search Committee selects national executive firm to find new NCCCS leader

Release date: Dec. 7, 2022

Contact: publicaffairs@nccommunitycolleges.edu

RALEIGH – The State Board of Community Colleges’ Presidential Search Committee has named Buffkin/Baker as the search firm to recruit and assess the next leader of the North Carolina Community College System.

The Presidential Search Committee selected the firm Tuesday following a competitive bid process.

Buffkin/Baker has extensive experience in executive searches with more than 1,500 searches for diverse corporate and non-profit organizations, including 700 searches in higher education institutions. Buffkin/Baker has deep North Carolina connections with two offices in the state and has led searches for many of North Carolina’s premier colleges and universities.

“The State Board looks forward to working with an experienced educational firm in Buffkin/Baker as we recruit a new president to lead our great system over the next many years. Buffkin/Baker’s track record of successful searches will be helpful to the search committee and to the full State Board,” said State Board of Community Colleges Chairman Burr Sullivan. “I am grateful for the leadership of Committee co-chairs Dr. Shirley Carraway and Mr. Hari Nath. They have already devoted a tremendous amount of energy to the search process, and the Board is indebted to them and optimistic about the process now fully underway.”

The search process includes an assessment and finalization of the position profile, candidate sourcing and recruitment, and advisement of the Presidential Search Committee, background and reference checks and additional consulting. The firm is expected to move quickly in finalizing and producing the position profile to start the recruitment process.

The new leader of the System will succeed Thomas Stith III, who left in July 2022. Dr. William S. Carver currently serves as interim president.

The Presidential Search Committee is comprised of 13 members, including nine state board members and four members with community colleges and business experience. Members also represent the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents, the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees, and the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation. 

The North Carolina Community College System includes 58 community colleges serving all 100 North Carolina counties. The mission includes an open-door approach that minimizes barriers to post-secondary education and career development, develops a global and multi-culturally competent workforce, and improves the lives and well-being of North Carolina residents.