EDWARDS — Colorado Mountain College’s Board of Trustees unanimously agreed Monday to enter into contract negotiations for the college’s next president.

Shortly after the vote, the board’s president said they selected Stan Jensen, Ph.D., because they feel that he is “the president of the future for community colleges.”

“He’s the nontraditional candidate with an extensive and current knowledge of community colleges, their issues and the best way to resolve them,” added the board’s president Doris Dewton in a press release.

Jensen is the founder and president of Leadership Enterprises Inc. in Iowa, a company that provides training in leadership, team building, process improvement training and strategic planning. Additionally, he has published four books on leadership and team building.

Recently, a group of trustees and CMC staff went on a site visit to his company, which solidified him as the final candidate.

According to a press release, the selection process was extensive and all stakeholders, including trustees, campus deans, faculty and administration representatives, students and community members, were involved in the process.

The current president, Bob Spuhler, Ph.D., who began his career with CMC in 1988 as vice president for student services, plans to retire in June when his contract ends. He is the school’s seventh president and for or the last five years, he has overseen the college’s seven campuses.



A screening committee formed to search for the next president following Spuhler’s announcement about a year ago that he planned to retire. They worked to narrow the search down from the original 48 applicants.

<i>Lory Pounder can be reached at (970) 668-4628, or at lpounder@summitdaily.com.</i>