N ews
During last Thursday’s Labette Community College Board of Trustees meeting, the board selected the next president of the college.
Current president, Dr. Mark Watkins, announced his intent to retire back in October. The board took action to hire a new president after a lengthy executive session. The position was offered to Dr. Jason Sharp, the current vice president of academic affairs.
“I appreciate the support, and I look forward to working with everybody,” Sharp said after the vote.
After this vote, the hiring committee was dissolved. Ahead of the meeting, members of that committee were recognized by coard chair Becky Dantic for their contribution to a smooth hiring process..
See PRESIDENT, Page 2.
DR. JASON SHARP
In other business, the board voted on annual organization matters, such as a new board chair. Rod Landrum was voted to take on the role of chair and said he appreciated the last two years of outgoing chairperson Becky Dantic’s exceptional leadership.
Greg Chalker was selected as vice chair. The Kansas Association of Community Colleges representative for the year will be David Winchell.
The board also heard staff reports and an audit report from Emily Franks of Jarred, Gilmore and Phillips, who said the official opinion was that the financial statements are fairly stated.
In other reports, Watkins highlighted an enrollment increase of 5%, from this time last year, which he said equals roughly 40 students.
The next LCC Board of Trustees meeting will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cardinal Event Center located at 1306 Main St., Parsons.
