The search is over and the decision made – Northern Oklahoma College’s twelfth president is Dr. Roger Stacy. During the regular scheduled Board of Regents meeting Wednesday, at the NOC Stillwater campus, the motion was made by Regent Richard Detten and seconded by Regent Keith James and following a unanimous 5-0 vote, it was official.
“The opportunity to lead is an honor and incredible responsibility. We must look ahead to see where we want to go -– we must be ready for the future; it will be a team effort. My overall educational philosophy and beliefs are founded upon the premise of possibility thinking in managing change as well as innovation and in setting futuristic direction for an institution. From my perspective, visionary leaders must be possibility thinkers — finding ways things can be accomplished,” Dr. Stacy said.
NOC Board of Regents Chair Linda Brown said, “When you have to follow in the shoes of Dr. Joe Kinzer it is impossible, impossible to replace — you do not replace a man like him, you just don’t. All three candidates without question had their strengths and all three candidates had their weaknesses so sorting through that and making a final decision was very difficult. I want you to know that now that we have made our decision this Board of Regents stands absolutely united, united for Dr. Roger Stacy as the president of Northern Oklahoma College.”
Stacy is from Tonkawa. He has a Master of Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla., and a Doctorate of Education in Occupational and Adult Education from Oklahoma State University. He has been the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Northern since 1998. His other positions included Superintendent of Schools at Deer Creek Public Schools in Edmond, Okla. (1997-98), Superintendent of Schools at Heavener Public Schools in Heavener, Okla. (1992-1997), and State Supervisor of Technology for the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education in Stillwater (1983-92). He also served as a Teacher Educator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (1978-83).
Current NOC President Dr. Joe Kinzer announced in Oct. that he will be retiring July 15. That’s when the Presidential Screening Committee and the Regents began the process of advertising the opening and narrowing the candidate pool. The Presidential Screening Committee consisted of 11 members. Two members were drawn from the Board of Regents, four from the administrative and professional staff, four from the faculty, and one from the student body. All three campuses, Tonkawa, Enid and Stillwater were represented. The committee, in consultation with the Board of Regents, was charged with screening and recommending qualified candidates for president. They received 20 applications for the position, and the screening committee selected six of the 20 to interview. After the interviews, the committee presented their recommendation to the board and the three finalists were named. The three finalists were Dr. Cheryl Evans, Dr. Deborah A. Garrett and Dr. Roger Stacy.
The three finalists were then further evaluated during additional interviews and campus visits. During the final interview process, before the final selection was made, the candidates met faculty, staff, students and community members, during their visits to all three campuses: Tonkawa, Enid and Stillwater.
Stacy will take over as president July 15 when Kinzer retires.