POINT CLEAR Ala.
The new chancellor of Alabama’s system of two-year colleges said Saturday that a background in education is not a requirement to be a college president.
“We’re looking for managers … people who have the intelligence and the background and the experience. It doesn’t matter whether you get it in education,” Chancellor Bradley Byrne told a meeting of the Business Council of Alabama. “You, too, could be a two-year college president.”
Gov. Bob Riley also spoke at Saturday’s meeting and said the two-year system should be reconfigured to better serve the state’s industries.
Riley said the two-year college system is “uniquely situated” for the task because of its many campuses spread throughout the state. He added that college programs could be tailored to company-specific and product-specific needs.
Byrne will get a chance right away to search for college presidents.
Five colleges in the state’s two-year system, including Mobile’s Bishop State Community College, have presidential vacancies.
