New MCC president: 'I don't plan on leaving.'

In light of the revolving door in the McHenry County College president's office of late, new President Vicky Smith promises stability and says she is in it for the long run.

"I'm not looking to move onto anyplace," said Smith, 62. "That's how I communicate that I'm going to be permanent."

Smith made her comments Wednesday morning at a news conference, which she called to relay her vision for the school and discuss her first eight days on the job.

The past 18 months have featured a procession of leaders at MCC. President Walter Packard resigned under pressure after six years on the job in February 2009. Brian Sager, a vice president at the college, served a brief stint as acting president. Larry Tyree took the reins for about a month until September and is now president of Florida Keys Community College. Kathleen Plinske, another MCC vice president, ran the school on an interim basis after Tyree left. She left in June to become provost for Valencia Community College's Osceola campus in Florida.

The constant comings and goings left board members and the community wringing their hands.

That ends now, Smith said.

Smith came to MCC from Kansas, where she was president at Neosho County Community College for nearly eight years.

With enrollment reaching an all-time high of nearly 7,000 students so far this semester, the need for new programming, staff and facilities may arise.

But Smith said she would not turn to the taxpayers for a tax-increase referendum until exhausting all other options, which include partnerships and federal grants - methods Neosho authorities say Smith successfully used in Kansas.

"There are ways other than using tax dollars to get things done at an institution," Smith said, adding that capital improvements would likely come within the next five years.