Tom Snyder, president of Ivy Tech Community College

INDIANAPOLIS — Ivy Tech Community College President Tom Snyder, who has a home on Tippecanoe Lake, announced his intentions in September to retire sometime in mid-2016. He will be stepping down to join President Barack Obama’s College Promise Advisory Board.

Following his announcement, the Ivy Tech State Board of Trustees named a committee and a firm to lead efforts in a search for the next president. Among those on the search committee is David Findlay, president/chief executive officer of Lake City Bank Warsaw and an Ivy Tech Foundation trustee.

The search process started in October and is expected to take eight to 10 months. “We are focused on a collaborative and transparent process along with gathering feedback from stakeholders throughout the state both internally and externally, Michael Dora, state board of trustee vice chairman, who is chairing the search committee. “The process got off to a great start … and now we begin the next phase of the search.” R. William Funk and Associates was selected to assist in the efforts.

David Findlay, Ivy Tech Trustee; president, chief executive officer Lake City Bank

Snyder joined Ivy Tech in 2007. In a personal e-mail to the full-time and part-time staff and faculty, he stated “I did not expect to be here for the better part of a decade, but the team made some huge and impactful changes that have taken time to implement. They have put the school in a position for success into the future. With that being said, I recently announced that I plan to move onto the next phase of my career, prior to the conclusion of the extension I received in 2012, which took my tenure into 2017. This gives our state board of trustees ample time for a presidential search o select the leader of Ivy Tech for the next decade and ensure a smooth transition when that time comes.”

Snyder was selected to replace Gerald I. Lamkin on March 22, 2007 and assumed the role of president of the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college on July 1, 2007.

Snyder has helped shape the higher education landscape on a national scale. He was recently selected by President Barack Obama to serve on the national College Promise Advisory Board, which will bring together luminaries and leaders to share best practices and ideas for models to make community college free and to serve as a way for those leaders to recruit more of their peers to join the cause.

Snyder re-engineered Ivy Tech into one of the most recognized and successful community colleges in the country. Since 2007, Ivy Tech has seen an estimated 110,000 students walk across the commencement stage. The number of annual graduates has increased by almost 200 percent since 2007 with Ivy Tech awarding more than 21,000 credentials last May.

The list of changes made at Ivy Tech under Snyder is long as the school has emerged into a national leader with a variety of new retention and completion initiatives.

Snyder was featured in “The Chronicle of Higher Education” as one of seven community college presidents making a difference early in his tenure, was selected by Pres. Obama as the lone community college president to serve on a Roundtable on Affordability and Productivity in Higher Education at the White House in December 2011. In October 2010, Snyder and Ivy Tech student Michael Rice were invited by Dr. Jill Biden to participate in the first ever White House summit on Community Colleges and the college hosted the largest regional U.S. Department of Education summit on Colleges in March 2011.

Ellspermann Expresses Interest

Earlier this week Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann announced an interest in the presidency. She issued a statement on Monday, Dec. 21.

“From time to time as I travel the state I have been approached about opportunities including most recently Ivy Tech Community College. I am extremely honored to be considered given my deep engagement in workforce development. While I have made the governor aware of this opportunity, this is a decision of the Ivy Tech Board of Trustees. As Lt. Governor I am focused on making Indiana a state that works and improving the lives of Hoosiers.”

Matt Lloyd, spokesman for the governor, says “Gov. Pence believes Lt. Gov. Ellspermann is uniquely qualified to lead Ivy Tech and strongly encouraged her to seek the position.” Lloyd said Pence called her an “ideal candidate,” but the decision falls on the board of trustees.