TVCC narrows president finalists to top three

Dec. 17—Trinity Valley Community College Board of Trustees recently announced the three finalists for President of the College. They are Dr. Wendy Elmore, Dr. Dreand Johnson, and Dr. Jason Morrison.

Candidates are scheduled to interview on the Athens campus the week of Jan. 23.

Elmore currently serves as the Provost and Executive Vice President of Lamar State College Orange in Orange, Texas, a position she has held since 2020. Prior to joining LSCO, Elmore served at TVCC for 14 years in several positions including as a faculty member, Director of Testing, and Vice President of Instruction/Chief Academic Officer.

She holds degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University, University of Texas at Tyler and earned her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Lamar University. She is married to Brad, a retired TVCC instructor and has two grown children.

Johnson currently serves as Provost of TVCC's satellite campuses in Kaufman, Palestine and Terrell a position he has held for the past year. Prior to serving at TVCC, Johnson served at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City as Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Associate Vice Chancellor on the St. Joseph campus. He has also served as Vice President of Instruction and Chief Academic Officer at Iowa Central Community College and as Dean of Math and Science at Tarrant County College's Trinity River campus.

He holds degrees from Texas Southern University, Houston Christian University (formerly Houston Baptist University) and earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin. He is married to Phuong and they have four children.

Morrison is currently the Chancellor of Southern Arkansas University Tech, a position he has held since 2017. SAU Tech is a comprehensive, two-year, public community college located in Camden, Arkansas. He is active in his community, serving on several economic development and chamber of commerce boards. Formerly, he served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Carl Albert State College and as Dean for Academic Education at Central Community College.

He holds degrees from Henderson State University, Arkansas State University and earned his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership at Arkansas State University.

He is married to Stephanie who teaches criminal justice classes as an adjunct instructor, is the SAU Tech cheer coach, and maintains a respirator therapist license. They have one daughter.

When TVCC President Dr. Jerry King announced his pending retirement in August, the trustees formed two committees: the Board Search Committee and the Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

The Advisory committee was comprised of a combination of faculty, staff, and community members. Their mission was to review the applicants and select candidates to advance to the first round of interviews.

TVCC received 136 applications which the Advisory Committee narrowed to 12 semi-finalists who were interviewed. From there, the committee made its recommendation for the final three to the Board Search Committee.

The Board Search committee is comprised of co-chairs Trustee Steve Grant, Trustee Mike Hembree, and Trustee David Monk as well as Administrative Representative Janene Dotts, TVCC Human Resources Director and Dr. King as an advisor.

After the interviews in January, the board will make its final decision in February or March. The new president will begin April 1.

King announced that he would retire on May 31, 2023. He served the college for 45 years. He became President in 2016.