President

Presidential Profile

The Board of Trustees at Midland College (MC) is actively seeking the fifth President in the College’s 50-year history; after his successful 15-year tenure, President Steve Thomas has announced his retirement. The new President will honor the unique culture, traditions, and history of MC and provide leadership in taking the College to its next level of achievement.

Located in the heart of the Permian Basin, MC sits at the energy epicenter of both the State of Texas and the country. Since its creation, the College has been a valuable and critical partner of the oil and gas industry.

MC focuses on providing higher education, community services, and cultural enrichment to the Midland community and the surrounding area. The College offers a rich and exciting range of opportunities and services as well as a quality, affordable educational experience. Every semester, over 5,000 credit students attend MC at approximately one-third the cost of other Texas four-year public institutions.

The College provides a distinctive mix of faculty excellence and individualized attention to create a supportive learning environment where students can excel. At MC, students learn to critically analyze issues, appropriately apply technology, and effectively communicate their ideas. The institution prides itself on providing students with one-on-one interaction with top faculty in an environment that emphasizes student learning and accomplishment.

MC offers three bachelor’s degrees that prepare students with associate degrees to advance in their careers. Courses in the College’s academic programs transfer easily to four-year universities, and MC’s career and technical associate degree and certificate programs provide the skills necessary for successful careers. The College enjoys strong partnerships with local businesses and expeditiously develops continuing education courses in response to industry needs.

The next President of MC will be a creative thinker who can imagine and implement plans for the future of the institution and the community. The President will exhibit an eager and responsive attitude and serve as a convener positioning the College as a principal collaborator in the region. This President will be approachable, action-oriented, and connected with the community, the workforce, employers and funders, and will spearhead the creation of a regional CTE center in partnership with the local school district and the business community.

The new President will have the opportunity to lead the development of a Strategic Plan for the institution to include a master plan that will guide the creation of new facilities, physical plant upgrades, and infrastructure improvements. The President will prioritize the creation of an equitable and competitive salary structure that will attract and support retention of quality faculty and staff. The President will be actively engaged with the community and create strong working relationships with neighboring educational entities, community and economic development entities and leaders of business and industry. 

The President of MC will be a high-energy leader fully committed to the following:

Challenges and Opportunities

• Maintaining the outstanding culture, traditions, and reputation of MC Continuing to improve academic transfer and workforce education
• Strengthening strategic alliances with PK-12 and transfer institutions Increasing educational opportunities for regional rural communities with a particular emphasis on CTE opportunities for the rural school districts
• Identifying strategies to reverse a pattern of declining enrollment, to improve retention, and to advance success, completion, and matriculation rates
• Engaging with the MC Foundation to secure essential capital resources in support of the Master Plan, build upon the healthy endowed assets for scholarships, and significantly increase the level of unrestricted funds
• Honoring the ethnic and cultural diversity of the College and the community
• Fostering existing relationships and building strong alliances with business and industry leaders to provide relevant credit and non-credit training leading to employment opportunities for students in high-demand careers
• Seeking to restore the College’s Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation
• Adding value to the community through continued support of the College’s cultural events

• Developing a comprehensive regional approach to career and technical education that involves the local school districts, business and industry, and economic development entities

Ideal Characteristics

• A leader who supports an environment of trust, shared governance, open dialogue, transparency, and honest collaboration
• A student-focused leader with a proven track record as a student-oriented advocate
• An individual with a successful track record who is fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• An individual who will provide leadership in achieving the highest standards of performance in teaching and learning
• A data-driven decision maker who is bold, innovative, creative, and understands how potential changes may impact students, faculty, staff, and the community
• An individual with demonstrated success in increasing resource development, fundraising efforts, and working with foundations
• An educational leader with a proven track record of successful interactions with public education and dual credit initiatives
• An individual with experience working with large and complex budgets
• A leader with demonstrated successful experience in working with a state legislature and other elected officials
• An advocate for training opportunities who actively engages with business, civic, industry, and community leaders
• A highly visible leader who actively participates in college functions and activities, non-profit organizations, and civic activities and who is committed to being a part of the community
• An individual who embraces and leverages technology and supports continued investment in the technology infrastructure
• An individual with experience in working with an elected Board of Trustees to achieve the goals of the College
• An exceptional listener who communicates effectively and engages with all constituent groups, including students
• An individual with extensive experience in regional accreditation
• A leader who exhibits grace under pressure and when facing challenges
• A leader who has an open-door policy to faculty, staff and students

Minimum Qualifications

• Earned doctorate from a regionally accredited institution is required
• Minimum of 3 years, preferably 5 years, of successful experience as a senior-level administrator
• Full-time community college experience in instructional services, student services, or financial services is highly desirable