JOHNSTOWN — The Fulton-Montgomery Community College Board of Trustees on Thursday announced that the State University of New York Board of Trustees signed off on the appointment of Provost and Vice President of Student Affairs Gregory Truckenmiller as acting college president beginning in August.
The FMCC Board of Trustees in February approved Truckenmiller’s appointment as acting president effective Aug. 1 as the temporary successor to President Dustin Swanger who will retire on July 31. Board President Ryan Weitz during Thursday’s meeting announced that the SUNY Board of Trustees had officially approved the college’s selection of Truckenmiller.
“Congratulations to Dr. Truckenmiller who was approved by the SUNY board to take over as acting president,” Weitz said leading the board in a round of applause.
Additionally, Trustee James Landrio stated that the nomination committee has selected Trustee Geoffrey Peck to chair the search committee for selection of the next president at FMCC. The board will take up Peck’s appointment as chair of the committee during the annual meeting in July.
It is anticipated that the Board of Trustees will officially begin the search process in January in hopes of appointing a permanent president by the start of the fall 2020 semester.
Following Thursday’s meeting Truckenmiller explained that SUNY officials will meet with the Board of Trustees shortly to discuss the months long search process and to present options on how to conduct the search whether through a firm or through SUNY.
During the process, a local search committee will be formed that will select a single candidate for the position through several rounds of interviews to send forward to SUNY for final approval following additional interviews with the SUNY chancellor and Board of Trustees.
“We bring in not only a large group from the campus community, but also from the community at large. There’s typically representation from both counties, from business and industry and then again representatives from all of the constituent groups on campus as well,” Truckenmiller said.
Truckenmiller noted that he will not serve on the search committee or be involved in the process as he intends to submit his application for the permanent appointment as president.
“I will not be involved in any part of the process other than hopefully being invited as a candidate,” Truckenmiller said. “I’ve been here for 19 years and I’ve invested in this community and I feel that this is the best way for me to give back to this community.”
Truckenmiller went on to say that through his experience in a variety of positions at the college he has developed a level of familiarity and knowledge that he feels will enable him to lead FMCC into the future following the departure of Swanger who he described as his mentor.
“An external candidate may have a very good idea of what’s happening in New York state and what’s happening in higher education in general, I can speak specifically to the challenges that this institution has and I obviously have a good working relationship with the senior staff and the campus community here,” Truckenmiller said. “I think I’m uniquely positioned to provide stability for the institution and to help us move forward in what are certainly challenging times for any higher education institution.”
“I’m looking forward to the challenges of serving as the acting president and going through the process of applying for the permanent position as well,” Truckenmiller added.
