Bethel board sets presidential search committee

Meeting in its fall session on campus Oct. 23 and 24, the Bethel College board endorsed a recommendation for the search process to select a new president.

The board also selected a presidential search committee.

Ray Penner, North Newton, will serve as chairman. Other members are Delora Decker, North Newton, Wally Dyck, Temple, Texas, Berneil Rupp Mueller, North Newton; Donovan Nickel, Windsor, Colo., and Leticia Palacioz Nielsen, Wichita, representing the board; John McCabe-Juhnke, professor of communication arts, and Allison McFarland, professor of management and marketing, representing Bethel faculty; and Sondra Bandy Koontz, vice president for advancement, representing Bethel staff.

Board chairman Melvin Goering, Santa Fe, N.M., will sit on the search committee as an ex officio member, and Elaine Moyer, associate director for Mennonite Education Agency, will serve as a consultant in the presidential search process.

The process should “begin ... with deliberate speed but without an arbitrary deadline for completion, recognizing it is more important to find the right person than to find a person quickly,” the recommendation stated.