CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE | QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN | REFERENCE ROOM

A-Z Index | Search | Contact | Home

[Compliance Report Index] [Core Requirements] [Comprehensive Standards] [Federal Requirements]

Core Requirement - 2.3 The institution has a chief executive officer whose primary responsibility is to the institution and who is not the presiding officer of the board. (Chief Executive Officer)

Judgment of Compliance:    Compliance

Narrative/Justification for Judgment of Compliance:

As a member institution in the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, Southwest Tennessee Community College is under the governance of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). TBR Policy 1:02:02:00, “Duties of the Board” [1] empower the Board to “select and employ presidents of the institutions and set their salaries and terms of office.” To prevent conflicts of interest, TBR Policy 1:02:04:00, “Selection and Terms of Board Members” [2] requires that “no employee of any public institution of higher education, nor any elected or appointed official or employee of the State of Tennessee, or any member of a governing body for any institution of higher education, may serve as a public member of the Board while so employed.”

The Governor of Tennessee serves as the ex officio chairman of the Tennessee Board of Regents. Current members of the Board include: [3]

Phil Bredesen, Ex Officio	Chairman and Governor of Tennessee
Leslie Pope, Johnson City	Member From 1st Congressional District
Frank Barnett, Knoxville	Member From 2nd Congressional District
Edgar R. Bowers, Harriman	Member From 3rd Congressional District
J. Stanley Rogers, Manchester	Member From 4th Congressional District
Tom H. Jackson, Nashville	Member From 5th Congressional District
Noble Cody, Cookeville	Member From 6th Congressional District
Demetra Godsey Boyd, Clarksville	Member From 7th Congressional District
Jonas G. Kisber, Jackson	Member From 8th Congressional District
Maxine A. Smith, Memphis	Member From 9th Congressional District
Robert Jack Fishman, Morristown	(At Large Member)
W. Keith McCord, Knoxville	(At Large Member)
William H. Watkins, Jr., Memphis	(At Large Member)
Katherine Byrd, PSTCC	(Faculty Representative)
Matthew B. Chapman, MTSU	(Student Representative)
Ken Givens, Ex Officio	Commissioner of Agriculture
Lana Seivers, Ex Officio	Commissioner of Education
Richard D. Rhoda, Ex Officio	Executive Director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission

TBR Policy 1:03:02:00, “Duties of the Presidents and Technology Center Directors” [4], specifies that each institution in the System will have a President who “shall be the executive head of the institution and all its departments and shall exercise such supervision and direction as will promote the efficient operation of the institution.” The President is responsible to the Board through the Board’s presiding officer, the Chancellor, for the operation and management of the institution and for the execution of the directives of the Board and Chancellor.

The President of Southwest Tennessee Community College is Dr. Nathan L. Essex, of Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Essex was the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Memphis and later the Interim President for Southwest before being appointed permanently to the position. See attached resume. [5]

The selection of President Essex followed policies and procedures established by the Tennessee Board of Regents.

A national search was conducted by a select committee composed of members of the Tennessee Board of Regents, faculty, staff, students, and the general public. Extensive evaluation of candidate vitae resulted in narrowing the field to three individuals who were invited to interview in person with representative groups of the campus community as well as with members of the selection committee. A final recommendation was then forwarded to the Chancellor.

[Compliance Report Index] [Core Requirements] [Comprehensive Standards] [Federal Requirements]