Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Lawrence Tyree will soon succeed Jill Landesberg-Boyle as interim president of Florida Keys Community College.

He has a lot on his plate. We wish him well. Tyree has a great opportunity to build on Landesberg-Boyle's legacy.

Landesberg-Boyle accomplished a great deal in her tenure as president of the college. On her watch, enrollment was dramatically increased, instructors' hours were reshaped to fit student needs, new programs were initiated, a connection was made with a four-year college and there was a solid start on building a dormitory.

On her way to establishing a more respectable college, she infuriated a lot of people locally when she dismissed several staff and faculty members or gave them new job descriptions they felt were untenable.

Along the way, she also lost the confidence of a majority of the members of the Board of Trustees.

But make no mistake about it: She did what was needed to resurrect the college from years of stagnation. She made FKCC meaningful, though she made few friends along the way.

Tyree has experience in mending fences, as he has served as interim president at five community colleges. He knows the history of FKCC, and has indicated he feels confident that he can regain the dissidents' confidence, as well as that of the Board of Trustees and the community.

"In (four) interim presidencies ... I entered the scene after the president left after less-than-ideal circumstances," he said after accepting the FKCC position. "In each situation there was a great deal of angst mixed with mistrust, and I saw my job was to come in and try to do some healing, opening the channels of communication, restore trust -- none of that did I do by myself, by the way."

That last phrase is important. In order for him to succeed, he will need the support of the community, the board, the faculty, the staff and the students.

That's a lot for anyone to harness.

Tyree officially became interim president on Sunday, but will not be on campus until a week from Monday. His contract is for six months, but the trustees have the option of extending it another six months. The contract calls for him to receive $15,000 a month, $3,000 a month for housing, a cell phone stipend of $130 a month, $400 a month car allowance plus moving expenses. That comes to an annual salary of $180,000 plus $42,360 for housing, cell phone and car for a grand total of $222,360.

In the meantime, the college will be paying Landesberg-Boyle through June 15.

-- The Citizen