Ex-lieutenant governor among Ivy Tech president finalists

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Ivy Tech Community College's board is expected to vote next week on whether former Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann will become the school's new president.

Ellspermann, who resigned from Republican Gov. Mike Pence's administration in March, is one of two finalists to take over leadership of the statewide community college system, Ivy Tech trustees Chairwoman Paula Hughes told The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/1UPD1Fw ).

Hughes declined to identify the other finalists, but said Ellspermann is "a top candidate and maybe even the top candidate at this point."

Ellspermann has been regarded as a leading candidate for the Ivy Tech presidency since Pence said in December that she planned to apply for the position.

Ivy Tech officials have said that more than 30 people applied to replace school President Tom Snyder, who is retiring this summer after overseeing its more than 30 campuses since 2007. The Ivy Tech board is scheduled to meet May 18 for a decision on the new president.

James King, a vice chancellor for Tennessee's board of regents who oversees the state's 27 technical colleges, said he had a final interview with members of Ivy Tech's board of trustees for about an hour Thursday and was told by Hughes the next day he was no longer being considered.

King said Hughes told him Ellspermann was being hired for the position, but Hughes disputed saying so.

"We have a lot riding on this decision," said Hughes, a Fort Wayne business executive.

"It is conjecture to say that we have a firm commitment. We clearly don't," she said.

The presidential search committee of Ivy Tech's board selected nine people for interviews. Then the pool was narrowed again to three finalists, who were interviewed privately by board members last week.

Ellspermann, who has a doctorate in industrial engineering, was the founding director of the Center for Applied Research and Economic Development at the University of Southern Indiana. She was a first-term state representative from the southern Indiana town of Ferdinand when Pence picked her as his running mate for the 2012 campaign.

Pence appoints the 14 members of the Ivy Tech board and said in December that Ellspermann would be an "ideal" candidate to lead Ivy Tech.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com