INDIANAPOLIS ― Former Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann was selected Wednesday as the next president for the state’s community college system.
Ivy Tech Community College trustees voted 11-0 to hire Ellspermann, who for months has been considered the leading candidate to replace outgoing school President Thomas Snyder. She will begin in the new position on July 1.
Ellspermann, a rapidly rising state GOP star, resigned as lieutenant governor in March amid a reported rift with Republican Gov. Mike Pence. She holds a doctorate in industrial engineering and ran her own consulting firm before she was elected to the Indiana House in 2010, and was tapped just two years later to join Pence’s gubernatorial ticket.
Pence appoints all members of the Ivy Tech board and said in December ― months before Ellspermann stepped down ― that she was an “ideal” candidate for the position.
Ellspermann, who has been adamant in her opposition to negative campaigning, was replaced by current Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, a political operative and former U.S. Senate candidate. Holcomb was brought on just as Pence was preparing for what is expected to be a difficult re-election campaign against former Democratic House Speaker John Gregg.
Ellspermann will face a daunting task heading up the community college system. Ivy Tech has drawn scrutiny over the past year for low graduation rates and declining enrollment under Snyder, who has overseen the system’s more than 30 campuses since 2007.
A search committee that launched a $120,000 effort to find Snyder’s replacement was initially expected to announce a new president in July. Snyder’s previous Ivy Tech contract was extended in 2012 until mid-2017.
