Four months after announcing the retirement of its current president, Central Carolina Community College has named the five finalists vying to succeed him – two of whom have ties to CCCC.
The college’s Board of Trustees will pick from the quintet of Lisa Chapman, John Crumpton, Shannon Kennedy, Brian Merritt and Lisa Rhine to replace T. Eston “Bud” Marchant, who is retiring April 1.
Julian Philpott, chairman of the college’s board of trustees, said the board will begin interviews this month.
“Each of the candidates has an outstanding resume,” he said Friday. “The Trustees know that the individual selected as the college’s next president will be well qualified to lead Central Carolina Community College and continue the standard of excellence it has achieved under the outstanding leadership of our retiring president.”
Chapman and Merritt have ties to CCCC. Chapman serves as the senior vice president and chief academic officer for the North Carolina Community College System and is a former CCCC chief academic officer, while Merritt is currently the vice president of learning and workforce development and chief academic officer at CCCC. Crumpton has been the Lee County Manager since 2007 and is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kennedy is the executive vice president of Cleveland Community College in Shelby. Rhine is the provost at Tidewater Community College in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Marchant has served in his current position since August 2008 and has also been as a member of the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation’s board of directors. He announced his plans to retire last July.
“While my passion for all things connected with Central Carolina Community College remains strong, it is time to let someone new lead this wonderful and unique institution,” Marchant wrote in a letter to the college’s trustees on July 26. "In retirement, I will be returning to my native South Carolina. You can rest assured, however, that the students, faculty and staff, as well as the wonderful supportive people of Chatham, Harnett and Lee Counties, will forever remain in my heart.”
The college’s new president will help oversee a growing institution that has completed several renovations and new buildings in Lee County and begun work on the Chatham Health Sciences Center in the Briar Chapel community in Pittsboro. The latter building is expected to be completed in August 2019.
Community members will have the opportunity through December and January to meet the candidates at events at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic & Conference Center in Sanford — Crumpton on Dec. 10, Rhine on Dec. 19, Kennedy on Jan. 3, Merritt on Jan. 7 and Chapman on Jan. 14. Formal interviews will follow each of those events, which will go from 2:30-4 p.m. on those dates.
The pick will need approval by the State Board of Community Colleges. Philpott said the college’s choice will be ready to take office when Marchant’s time ends.