In a closed executive session Friday, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents voted to begin searching for a permanent president, according to representative from the college system.
The system includes Gateway Community & Technical College in Florence, along with 15 others across the state.
This news comes a day after another closed session, which occurred after acting president Dr. Larry Ferguson announced the discovery of a system office fund balance of $75 million, which was not properly represented on system financial documents. The board of regents voted to “ask State Auditor Mike Harmon to begin an examination of the financial systems, internal policies, controls of the system,” according to a statement from the college system released after Thursday’s meeting.
Before last week’s meetings, the board had originally intended to seek an interim president to fill the role while the system undertook a search for a permanent president. Today’s meeting marks a departure from this initial plan as the system will now forego the search for a interim president and instead begin to immediately seek a permanent president. Dr. Ferguson will remain in his role of acting president while the search goes on.
The system plans to hire a consulting firm to aid in their search for ideal candidates. The firms who might occupy this role were not disclosed. The system’s representative said that the search will likely take several months.