Broward College’s interim leader likely will be familiar face

Broward College expects to select a new leader Tuesday, and it will most likely be a familiar face.

The college is accepting applications to temporarily replace outgoing President Gregory Haile, who issued his letter of resignation Sept. 13 following weeks of tension with new appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis on the Board of Trustees.

The board accepted his resignation this past Tuesday and agreed to seek applications for an acting president, who will also be able to apply for the permanent job.

One person who may be considered is Henry Mack III, an education lobbyist, a former Broward College administrator, a DeSantis ally and a recent finalist for the presidency at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.

The criteria are narrow enough to ensure a small number of qualified applicants. The successful applicant must be a current or former Broward College employee or a former member of the college’s Board of Trustees.

“The reason behind it is you’re trying to have a stopgap person,” Chairwoman Alexis Yarbrough told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You need to have some institutional knowledge so you don’t lose time in your continuing of operations.”

In addition to a Broward College connection, the successful candidate must have a master’s degree, with a doctorate preferred, as well as 15 or more years of “senior experience in higher education.”

Applicants will have until Sunday to apply.

A state law passed in 2022 keeps secret the names of those who apply for college or university presidential jobs unless they make it to the finalist stage. Yarbrough said anyone who qualifies will likely be considered a finalist, so the names will probably become public on Monday.

“Because we’re confining it to former or current employees or former trustees, it should be a pretty small pool,” Yarbrough said. “We expect to interview all the candidates that qualify” on Tuesday.

If the trustees prefer an administrator currently at the school, their likely choice would be Provost Jeffrey Nasse. He has been with the college since 2005, serving in such roles as vice provost, senior associate vice president of academic affairs, dean and associate dean. He has been the college’s academic leader under Haile, whose background is in law.

A Marine Corps veteran, Nasse has a bachelor’s in communication from East Carolina University, where he earned a bachelor of science in communication, a master of arts in English and a doctorate in educational

“This vacancy has created an enormous amount of work for staff. I think we need to get to a point where we are doing regular everyday business. There needs to be a period of time where people are in a rhythm before we start readying up for another presidential search.”

— Chairwoman Alexis Yarbrough

leadership and research methodology from Florida Atlantic University.

Nasse is currently handling presidential duties, without the title, as Haile negotiates his separation from the college. It’s unknown if Nasse is applying. He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Mack is a former administrator at the college.

Mack was widely believed to be DeSantis’ pick to serve as president of Florida Gulf Coast, and he made it to the final round, but the university’s Board of Trustees decided by one vote to instead promote a vice president, Aysegul Timur.

Several current and former Broward College employees told the Sun Sentinel that Mack was a name they were hearing as a leading candidate. Yarbrough acknowledged she’s received requests for him to be considered.

“I have heard his name from faculty and received calls from faculty who used to work with him and said they thought he’d be agoodactingpresident,”Yarbrough said. “I haven’t spoken to him and have not received a [resume]. His name has just come up in conservations by faculty to me unsolicited.”

Mack, reached by the Sun Sentinel on Sept. 15, would not confirm or deny he was applying or being consideredfortheBrowardCollege job. He did not respond to requests for comment this week.

According to the resume he submitted to Florida Gulf Coast, he was an associate dean at Broward College from 2014 to 2018 and then spent nearly a year as associate vice president for workforce education.

He was tapped by the DeSantis administration in 2019 to serve as chancellor for the Florida Department of Education, overseeing higher education. He was promoted to senior chancellor in 2021. After losing out on the Florida Gulf Coast job, he joined the Southern Group lobbying firm as an education lobbyist.

If Mack were selected, it would be consistent with a recent trend of DeSantis political allies being tapped for higher-education presidencypositions.Thisyear,Richard Corcoran, former House speaker and DeSantis’ commissioner of education, was named interim president of New College of Florida by a board controlled by recent DeSantis appointees. Corcoran is Mack’sformerbosswiththeeducation

department.

Another DeSantis ally, former State Rep. Fred Hawkins, was recently hired as president of South Florida State College in Avon Park, despite not having a master’s degree or higher education experience.

And the State University System’s Board of Governors suspended the search for a Florida Atlantic University president, citing “anomalies,” after DeSantis’ endorsed candidate, Brevard legislator Randy Fine, wasn’t selected as a finalist.

WhetherMackmeetsthequalificationsfortheBrowardCollegejob isunclear.Hisresumeshowshehas nineyearsofhigher-educationleadership experience, six fewer than required by the job description.

But the job description allows the board to consider education in place of some experience. He has a doctorate in education administration and philosophy of education from the University of Miami.CandidatesfortheBroward College job are only required to have a master’s degree.

Mack also has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology and philosophy from the Catholic University of America.

After the trustees settle on a new acting president Tuesday, they will probably not start looking immediately for a permanent leader, Yarbrough said.

“This vacancy has created an enormous amount of work for staff,” she said. “I think we need to get to a point where we are doing regular everyday business. There needs to be a period of time where people are in a rhythm before we start readying up for another presidential search.”