The trustees of Richmond Community College were told there will be no interference from Raleigh in their search for a new president at the institution by the community college system’s top official Monday night.

Dr. Scott Ralls, the president of the statewide community college system, spoke for about a half an hour at the meeting of the college’s trustees, assuring them the decision on a new president is theirs to make and sharing information about other college’s searches.

“Selecting a president is probably the most important thing a board does,” Ralls said. “What you have to do is determine the best fit for this particular college at this point in time.”

He said many of the factors that go into that decision are “subjective, not objective,” nullifying much of the input which could come from state-level administrators.

He explained while it is their responsibility to select a president, the state board has the responsibility to approve their choice.

“The only way that wouldn’t happen is if the person doesn’t have the qualifications to be a community college president, or they would somehow be an embarrassment to the state,” he said.

“Unless you ask me, I’m not really going to give you a lot of advice,” Ralls said at another point.

At the beginning of his address, Ralls pointed out the timeliness of the college’s presidential search.

“There are a lot of big things happening at our community colleges right now,” Ralls said.

He pointed to the financial difficulties facing many colleges because of cuts in the state budget, and “the tremendous enrollment growth” currently taking place throughout the state to point out what a unique point in time this is for North Carolina’s community colleges.

“With that growth, we need to be focused not just on getting them through our doors, but getting them across our stages,” Ralls said.

He called RCC “a strong college.”

“There is incredibly strong leadership here,” he said. “You have a lot of momentum, and obviously the board here is also incredible, and you are charged with making sure this college moves forward, and we are committed to helping you with that.”

He called any guidance administrators at the state-level may offer with the search “a facilitative process.”

“We want to help you expedite the process as quickly as possible,” he said later.

While Ralls promised not to interfere with the wishes of the trustees, he did offer five characteristics he thinks are the most important things to look for in a president.

He said integrity is first and foremost, “you can make up for any other shortcomings, but if you don’t have integrity you just don’t have it.”

Second, he said the trustees should focus on finding someone with a broad competence of all the areas of the workings of a community college.

“You don’t necessarily have to have expertise in any one area ... but you need to be able to understand the many different facets you have to deal with at a community college,” Ralls said.

Third, he said a college president “is the face and voice of the college in the community,” and therefore must have “the ability to be inspiring.”

Fourth, he said the college should look for a “forward-looking” candidate, but not necessarily “a visionary.”

Ralls said being a visionary can be a source of trouble for a community college president, because “most of the time if they come here with a vision of what they want Richmond Community College to be, it’s based on the place they just left,” rather than the vision of community members.

And finally, he cautioned the RCC trustees to pay “close attention to what the motivation of this individual is.”

“Whoever is in this role, it has to be about the students first, then the community and the faculty and staff of the community college,” Ralls said. “If they see this as a role for them, or as a stepping stone role, they are most likely not going to serve your needs as a college.”

Ralls fielded several questions from the trustees after his address, and pointed out at least one distinct advantage the college has in opening a presidential search at this time.

“You don’t have as many schools where a search is going on right now, which should make it easier for you to get a good pool of candidates,” Ralls said.

He said the College of the Albemarle and Asheville-Buncombe community colleges are currently searching for a president, but are in later stages of the search than RCC.

“There’s just not anyone else out there at the same time as you,” he said.

Trustee J.C. Lamm asked Ralls what kind of a timeline the state system would be looking for from RCC to have the field narrowed to the three top candidates.

“That’s not something you need to really concern yourself about right now,” Ralls replied, explaining the process will take as long as it takes to identify the best candidate.

He reiterated his assertion from a previous interview with the Daily Journal searches usually take six to nine months.

Trustee Chairman Hugh Lee asked about hiring an outside consultant for the search.

“Money’s scarce right now, and what I want to know is do we have to hire an outside consultant,” Lee asked.

Ralls explained the benefits of hiring a consultant, bringing in more candidates and researching them, but said the college is not required to do it.

“If you choose to hire a consultant, I would strongly recommend you bring in three to five companies to hear what each of them offer,” Ralls said.

He also pointed “if you’re going to go that route, the sooner the better so you get your money’s worth.”

Ralls replied to a follow-up question about consultants from Trustee Glenn Sumpter, and launched into the conversation about other colleges currently conducting a search.

He discussed “community forums,” now being used at some colleges, where candidates come in and meet with the faculty and staff, as well as community members in some cases, to field questions, share their perspective and get a sense of who they are.

Finally, Lee shared his thoughts on the overall search with Ralls.

“We’ve got a good staff here, and can get along pretty well for quite awhile,” Lee commented. “It does appear to me we need to find a president as expeditiously as possible, but we want to have the right one.”