Campus and community encouraged to help shape candidate profile.

May 27, 2021 (Denver, CO) – Today, the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) announced the start of its search for the next president of Northeastern Junior College (NJC) and the appointment of members to the search advisory committee. In April, current NJC president Jay Lee announced his plans to retire at the end of the calendar year on December 31, 2021.

Recruitment for the new NJC president will begin immediately and the best consideration given to candidates that apply before September 3, 2021. The search process is expected to take several months with the target to announce the next president in December. This is a confidential search process.

The search advisory committee, comprised of college and community representatives, will screen applications and recommend finalists to the CCCS Chancellor for final selection in fall 2021.

Members of the NJC president advisory search committee are:

• Amanda Kerker, business faculty, NJC
• Brandon Melnikoff, student, NJC
• Celeste Delgado-Pelton, director of liberal arts, NJC
• Jennifer Heimann, administrative assistant, NJC
• Steven Smith, vice president of student services, NJC
• Karla Rosas, community resource director, Centennial Mental Health Crisis Center
• Cathy Shull, board member, State Board for Community Colleges & Occupational Education
• Lance Bolton, president, Pikes Peak Community College
• Mark Superka, vice chancellor for finance and administration, CCCS

“I appreciate President Lee’s ongoing leadership as we commence NJC’s president search and prepare for a mid-academic year transition,” said Joe Garcia, chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. “We have a strong search advisory committee and we are committed to giving NJC staff, faculty, students, alumni and the surrounding community ample time to provide input that will help us guide the process.”

Campus and community members are encouraged to engage in the search process by sharing their views about strengths and opportunities for NJC and what attributes they want to see in the next president via the following survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJCPresidentFeedback. Feedback gathered from this survey will be used to develop a position profile for prospective candidates and serve as a guiding document during recruitment and assessment.

The community can stay informed and learn more about the search by visiting NJC’s presidential search webpage at the following link: https://www.njc.edu/njc-presidential-search.

Throughout the search process, individuals can submit candidate nominations directly to Christina Cecil, chief human resources officer at CCCS, using the following link to NJC’s president nomination form: https://cccs-forms.formstack.com/forms/njc_presidential_nomination.

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About Northeastern Junior College
Northeastern Junior College takes pride in offering a wide array of college services, including residence life and student housing opportunities, athletics, and performing arts programming to create an intimate college experience. With practical, hands-on instruction lead by predominately full time faculty who also serve as advisors to provide a caring, personal and supportive learning environment. Northeastern offers classes at their main campus in Sterling, Colorado and an additional campus in Yuma, Colorado to service students in the five counties of Northeast Colorado. Northeastern has over 60 certificate and degree options for students to explore, as well as guaranteed transfer programs to all four-year public college institutions.

About the Colorado Community College System
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the state’s largest system of higher education, delivering more than 1,000 programs to over 125,000 students annually through 13 colleges and 38 locations across Colorado. CCCS’s open access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to quality higher education opportunities. The System Office provides leadership, advocacy and support to the colleges under the direction of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE). Join us in changing the way Colorado goes to college.