TIFTON — University of Georgia Interim Chancellor Corlis P. Cummings met Wednesday with members of two committees charged with assisting in the selection of a new president for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

The search process begins with a campus-based Presidential Search and Advisory Committee screening applicants and conducting on-campus interviews. The committee includes ABAC faculty and staff, a student representative and members of the Tifton community.

“I am here to stress that the regents actually select the next president, but we are delegating a big portion of that responsibility to the committee to screen the applicants,” Cummings said.

After the committee screens the applicants, it forwards the credentials of five of the candidates in unranked order to the Special Regents’ Committee, which will be chaired by Regent Julie Hunt of Tifton.

Other members of that committee include Regent James R. Jolly of Dalton and Regent Hugh A. Carter Jr. of Atlanta. The Special Regents’ Committee will decide which of the finalists to recommend to the full Board of Regents.

“Having the campus committee is important because they are at the ground level and can find the right person for this community,” Cummings said. “The regents and I hope to have someone named by April.

“This is a strong and growing institution and I’m excited about the process.”

The college’s fall semester 2005 enrollment of 3,423 students is the highest in the college’s history.

The members of the campus-based Presidential Search and Advisory Committee include: Chairman William I. Bowen Jr., chair and CEO of the ABAC Foundation, Inc.; faculty representative Keith Perry, humanities instructor and chair of the Academic Assembly; faculty representative Dr. Renata Elad, associate professor, agriculture and forest resources; faculty representative JoAnn Brannen, assistant professor, business administration; faculty representative Mike Curry, associate professor, science and mathematics; staff representative Olga Contreras-Martinez, coordinator of ABAC’s High School Equivalency Program and chair of the Staff Forum; student body representative Ellis Washington III, president of the ABAC Student Government Association; alumni representative Sonya Martin, chair of the ABAC Agricultural Alumni Council; and community representative Ray Cross, an administrator with Affinity Health Care.



To contact city editor Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.