Johnson County Community College picks new president, with only 2 people in the room
As Johnson County Community College is preparing to offer online only classes and a person connected with the school has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the college’s Board of Trustees moved ahead with business on Thursday.
The board unanimously chose Indiana community college administrator Andrew Bowne as its next president. Only board chairman Greg Musil and retiring JCCC President Joe Sopcich were in the room for the meeting while others joined remotely. The meeting was was live-streamed for the public to watch.
Bowne, who will leave his position as senior vice president of the state of Indiana’s 18-campus community college system, will take on the role of president in July. Sopcich is retiring after working for the college since 1992, and serving as its president since 2013.
“We believe he can take JCCC to an even higher level,” Trustee Jerry Cook said in a statement.
Bowne was one of four finalists selected last month from a pool of 71 applicants to lead the Overland Park campus, college officials said.
He has worked for nearly 17 years in senior leadership positions at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan and at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, where he served as regional chancellor.
JCCC is on spring break this week and is open only to essential personnel as officials transition to online-only classes. Classes will not resume for two weeks: On March 30, faculty and staff have been instructed to begin delivering all courses remotely.
Last week, Johnson County health officials announced that a woman associated with the school tested positive for COVID-19. The woman, in her 50s, was the county’s first known case of local transmission.
