Five new members have joined The Florida Bar‘s Citizens Advisory Committee, including recently retired St. Petersburg College president Bill Law, the organization announced Tuesday.
Dr. Tonjua Williams will become the next president of St. Petersburg College, in a unanimous vote of the school’s board of trustees. The board chose SPC’s seventh president during a special meeting Wednesday. The 53-year-old Williams, a 30-year veteran of SPC, is currently serving as Sr. Vice President of Student Services, a position she has held since 2013. She will be the college’s first woman and first African-American to serve as president. Trustee Deveron Gibbons said it was clear Williams…
St. Petersburg College President Bill Law’s announcement Tuesday that he plans to resign no later than July 1 caught people by surprise. Jim Olliver, the retired provost of SPC’s Seminole campus, said the college has a protocol when someone of that level decides to leave. That protocol includes a prepared press release and photo that can be issued right after the announcement. In Law’s case, college officials were left scrambling after his announcement during the Board of Trustees meeting. First,…
William D. Law is stepping down as president of St. Petersburg College. Law made the announcement today at the end of the monthly meeting of the college’s trustees. In a letter presented to board chair Lauralee Westine, Law said that his “six and one-half years here has been fulfilling and rewarding” and assured the board he would do everything in his power “to facilitate the process of finding the next president.” Law’s resignation is effective June 30, 2017. In the coming weeks, the board of trustees…
The St. Petersburg Times editorial board is urging Governor Charlie Crist to not re-appoint Deveron Gibbons to the Board of Trustees at St. Petersburg College. An excerpt: The selection of Tallahassee Community College president Bill Law this week as the new president for St. Petersburg College was predictable, safe and uninspiring. Now Gov. Charlie Crist should be more creative and bring some fresh faces to the college’s board of trustees. As long as the college is embarking on a new…
From the Jeffrey S. Solochek: St. Petersburg College’s presidential search commitee is beginning the process of naming finalists for the college’s open presidency. Of course, the real story is if former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker will be among the finalists. After a first ballot, Baker is third among eight semifinalists, behind Thomas Keegan and Bill Law. The committee has said it plans to name 3-5 finalists, but could lower the number. Stay tuned. UPDATE – This has turned into…
Even though former Mayor Rick Baker is among nine semifinalists to be the next president of St. Petersburg College, I am downgrading the Rick Baker Back-to-School Meter because Baker is “the lone candidate without higher education experience. He failed to win the support of the search committee’s three faculty representatives, who each backed other candidates.” The leading vote-getters among the search committee were Thomas Keegan, 51, president of Peninsula College in Washington and Bill Law, president of Tallahassee Community College.…