EAST CENTRAL — Cumberland College and Parkland College have launched their search for a joint CEO.
Cumberland College’s CEO, Tom Weegar, had resigned for a new job opportunity, while Parkland’s CEO retired.
“Our colleges agreed to pilot a coalition that would share one board of governors and one CEO so our experience could inform a future direction for the college system,” said Corinna Stevenson, board chair with Cumberland College.
That decision was made in October.
A joint steering committee is leading the search for a CEO. After reviewing timelines at their last meeting, the committee has adjusted its target hire date from April 30 to June 30.
“We were given a hiring freeze by the ministry [of advanced education],” Stevenson said. “We weren’t allowed to pursue a new CEO until we did some work through the task force, which has all the board chairs and all the CEOs of all the colleges in Saskatchewan.”
The chair said the situation for Cumberland and Parkland presented a good opportunity for provincial colleges to see what it would look like to share a CEO and board of governors
Both colleges remain focused on maintaining a local presence and providing high quality education in their regions, the chair said.
“It always takes longer to do things that are more consultative because we included the whole province in this discussions, but I think it was worth taking the extra time.”
Stevenson doesn’t believe either college would have had trouble finding a CEO on their own, but this gives a new opportunity that she feels fortunate to be a part of.
The successful candidate for the position can be located anywhere in eastern Saskatchewan as Cumberland has three campuses located in Melfort, Tisdale and Nipawin, while Parkland has five in and around Yorkton.
Reporting to the merged board of directors, the CEO has overall operational responsibility for the colleges. The CEO communicates the vision of the colleges with the all the stakeholders, including students, staff and the ministry. In this role, the CEO is expected to develop long and short-term strategic business plans in collaboration with the board and oversee the collective bargaining process.
The candidate they are looking for requires a minimum of 10 years senior leadership experience, and familiarity with the post-secondary education sector; a bachelor’s degree in a related field is a prerequisite, and a master’s degree is considered an asset; strong stakeholder and government relations experience; excellent leadership, mentorship and relationship building skills; superior financial and business acumen; prior experience successfully leading through change; and strong understanding of sound corporate governance.
