Flathead Valley Community College will hire a consultant to assist in its search for President Jane Karas’ successor.

Karas said in February that she will be retiring at the end of the year. Her last day as president will be Dec. 31. 

The Flathead Valley Community College Board of Trustees on Monday approved hiring the Association of Community College Trustees to help conduct the search, accepting a $42,500 quote for services. The community college received quotes from four other firms with the association’s coming in the lowest. The money will come out of the general fund. 

The association is a nonprofit representing more than 500 community, technical and junior college boards nationally, according to its website. Karas told the board that she could recommend a few people from the association who know the region well and “would be a good fit for our community.” 

The next step will be to draw up a contract and hear the association’s proposal on how to conduct the search, which will likely begin by establishing a timeline and assembling a search committee made up of board members and stakeholders from the college and community.  

After that, the focus will move to creating a profile and job description based on input from stakeholders on what qualities they are looking for in a president, Karas said. Those would go before the board for approval to be posted. 

Board Chair Callie Langohr asked if it’s typical for colleges to hire search consultants rather than conducting them on their own.  

“I would say in this day and age, I don’t know of any community colleges or four-year colleges or universities that conduct their own searches anymore,” Karas said. “It’s become more complicated, more involved [and] very competitive in terms of finding the right candidate.  

THE BOARD also approved bids for two building projects, signaling the beginning of an ongoing maintenance plan to replace/repair critical systems in the college’s original buildings, which opened in 1990. 

The board approved a $652,955 base bid from Missoula-based Summit Roofing to replace the roofs on Blake Hall and the Business and Social Science building. It was the lowest among the seven bids received.  

Trustees also approved a bid to replace the chiller in the Business and Social Science building. The $200,600 bid from Kalispell-based Northwest Mechanical Contractors, includes two additional alternate projects to replace heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls and a network automation engine.  

While not the lowest bid, Cushing Terrell, which completed the design and public bidding process, stated in a letter to the board that it was the lowest qualified bid, noting that another firm was disqualified for not including a required 10% bid security. A bid security is essentially a safeguard that protects the college from financial loss if a bidder withdraws or doesn’t fulfill a contract. The college received one other qualified bid.  

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].