DANVILLE — Danville Area Community College will have a new interim president starting Dec. 16, who could end up taking the reins permanently.

DACC trustees on Thursday voted to appoint former university employee Randy Fletcher, an Oakwood native who left Eastern Florida State College in June after a four-year term as vice president of academic affairs and Student Affairs, for a six-month term as interim president. until June 30.

The trustees and Fletcher both hope he gets the job permanently in the future.

Board Chairman Greg Wolfe said the bid for the interim position attracted an internal and external candidate, and he was excited about the appointment and working with Fletcher.

Wolfe said that when Alice Marie Jacobs announced her retirement as president about nine years ago, Wolfe thought of Fletcher and then contacted him to be considered as her successor.

But Fletcher told him the timing wasn’t right, because he had just taken a stand in Joliet.

“And then I thought, ‘Boy, this is the guy I want because of his character,'” Wolfe said. “He didn’t want to leave this job after a month.

“So we had our problem here with Dr. (DACC President Stephen) Nacco and (fellow board member) Terry Hill called me and said, ‘Have you spoken with Randy Fletcher ? and I said, ‘No, I haven’t, but I will,'” Wolfe added.

He said he called Fletcher that evening and they had been talking for a few weeks.

“It just materialized,” Wolfe said.

He said he’s proud that Fletcher is a successful local professional who wants to return to Vermilion County.

“Randy told me it would be the pinnacle of his career if he could become president of Danville Area Community College,” Wolfe said. “This is home.”

The board’s plan, hope and goal, Wolfe said, is that Fletcher can assume this role permanently at some point during his interim tenure. That would save him from having to look for a permanent successor and save about $100,000, Wolfe said.

He said studies have shown that an entity does not always know what it will get with a potential candidate who can interview well and has a good resume and excellent references, and cannot really be sure until she has someone for the job and working. .

The board’s plan is to gather feedback on Fletcher over the next few months from the community, faculty, staff and students.

Wolfe said if things look really good, then the board could come up with a full-time offer.

“His intention is to be full-time permanently,” Wolfe said.

Often, a temp is someone who is retired and just comes back to replace them, he added.

“We didn’t want that,” Wolfe said. “We have to keep moving forward. We must return to the success of students and the work that remains to be done.

A decision on Fletcher’s tenure could come in about three months.

“It would take us three months to really see,” Wolfe said. “You get a pretty good feel for someone you work with for three months.”

Fletcher’s salary is set at what Nacco earned this year, about $198,000.

Fletcher holds a doctorate in higher education from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in communications from Illinois State University and in library and information science from the University of Illinois.

He previously spent 24 years in the Illinois community college system.

He worked at DACC for 12 years, teaching rhetoric and developmental English, leaving in 2008. He spent eight years at Parkland College in Champaign and four years at Joliet Junior College.

Fletcher said he was actively seeking a university president position and was thrilled when the opportunity presented itself.

He said having worked at DACC early in his career and having the opportunity to return as president is something he has worked toward. He served as president of academic affairs and dean twice for eight years and he believes his experiences will lend themselves to DACC as the college guiding this transition, Fletcher said.

He said he absolutely wants to become the next president of the DACC. From a young age, he took his education very seriously, he said, and he had many wonderful mentors at DACC.

He said over the next few months he plans to listen to faculty, staff, students and the community. He said enrollment is key to the college and that he will look at new student pipelines and programs, and see how programs and industries work together to meet job market needs in this area.

Fletcher graduated from Oakwood High School in 1987 and has been married to his wife Michelle for 28 years. They have three children.

Fletcher had family supporting him in the audience at the DACC board meeting, including his brother Darrin Fletcher, a former Major League Baseball catcher. His announcement as interim president also received applause from DACC employees and other residents in the audience.

Fletcher arrives as trustees voted Oct. 24 to approve a retirement agreement with Nacco and bring him back from administrative leave to finish the semester. Nacco is working on campus two days a week and from home three days a week until Dec. 13, which will be his last day as president.