North Shore Community College’s Presidential Selection Process Continues

Dr. J.D. LaRock, Chair of the North Shore Community College Board of Trustees, said the process for the selection of a new college president is proceeding well and the search committee has identified 11 semifinalists for the key leadership position.

Dr. Nate Bryant is currently serving as the Interim President of North Shore Community College. Dr. Bryant was selected to serve a one-year term following the retirement of Dr. Patricia Gentile, the college’s fourth president.

Dr. J.D. LaRock Chair of NSCC Board of Trustees.

LaRock, who holds undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard University and a law degree from Georgetown University, said the initial pool included 60 candidates for the position of NSCC president.

The 15-member search committee, chaired by LaRock, evaluated the 60 candidates and gave second-round consideration to 21 candidates. Last Monday, eleven candidates were chosen to advance to semifinal interviews with members of the search committee.

The semifinal interviews will be conducted remotely Thursday and Friday. Following these interviews, the committee will recommend between three to five finalists to the NSCC Board of Trustees.

“The Board will aim to interview those finalists on March 31-April 2, and should that process yield the results we want, the Board is looking to have a final vote to approve the next president during the week of April 4,” related LaRock.

NSCC is a Strong and Vibrant School

North Shore Community College, which has campuses in Lynn and Danvers, has been meeting the needs of its students during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains a strong and vibrant academic institution.

“The school is doing very well financially and I call that out because we’re in a situation that, as many are well aware, where while lots of colleges are not doing well financially – we are trending toward a budget surplus,” said LaRock. “We are not drawing on our organizational reserves and that’s a real achievement at a time like this when we are seeing impacts to enrollment because of COVID.”

NSCC’s enrollment has declined slightly in the past year. However, compared to the 15 community colleges in Massachusetts, the decrease has been much less than many other colleges.

“I’d say it’s a sign of two things, the community recognizing the strength of the college and what it does for students in the region, but also, frankly the dedicated efforts of our staff team, who has pulled out all the stops to make sure that students continue to enroll and prosper even during this challenging school year,” said LaRock.

On-Line Learning at NSCC

Like many colleges, NSCC has shifted to a significant level of on-line (remote) education and because of the aforementioned dedicated efforts of the faculty and staff, the educational process has been effective and drawn praise from students.

“We’re learning a lot about the demands for on-line education that we didn’t fully realize was there for the students who attend North Shore Community College,” said LaRock. “There’s a lot that we’re going to be learning and taking away from this experience that will form the way we deliver our programs in the future.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.