Some DACC faculty, staff concerned over Fletcher appointment
When Jonathan Jett, director of Financial Aid at Danville Area Community College, heard that interim president Dr. Randall Fletcher may be a shoo-in for the permanent presidential position before the opening was even posted, he was concerned.
In a recent email to the Board of Trustees of the college, Jett said there are 'too many doubts in how the process has been handled' — something he said he told Board Chair Greg Wolfe and Vice Chair Terry Hill in a meeting with them April 16.
'The staff have not had enough time to evaluate Dr. Fletcher's job performance,' he wrote in his email, adding that it is 'not fair to Dr. Fletcher because he has not had enough time to do much to be evaluated ... [and] if there is doubt in the process if he is hired, that would cast a shadow over his presidency.'
The position came open in October 2024 when long-time president Dr. Stephen Nacco resigned from his position after a public fall-out with Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr.
While Dr. Carl Bridges, DACC's provost and vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, filled the role temporarily, a month later, Fletcher was chosen to fill the position on an interim basis until June 2025.
DACC Board of Trustees Chair Greg Wolfe said the Board will vote Wednesday, June 4 on whether to extend Fletcher's interim contract to December 31st, 2025, not to extend an official presidential contract offer.
Stephanie Davis, an instructor of communications at the college, agrees with Jett that the college's hiring process in this case has been out of the ordinary.
'We were asked to evaluate [Fletcher's] performance, but we were never given any deliverables,' Davis said. 'We were never given any evidence of a work product.'
Davis, who recently spoke about her concerns at a DACC Board of Trustees meeting, added that her primary concern is the failure of the college to post the job opening in plenty of time to attract other applicants — something which was only remedied after Davis filed a formal complaint with the college.
'I told them at the board meeting, 'You're violating the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity Act]. You're violating the law. People have to be able to compete,' and they did nothing for 10 days until I filed a formal complaint.'
'We should be attempting to attract the best possible candidate, and we can't do that if we don't post the job,' said Davis. 'DACC is a premier institution. This would be a job that would attract highly-qualified candidates from across the country, if they're made aware of it.'
Davis said she informed the Board via email April 24 that she would be moving forward with her formal complaint. Almost a month later, on May 21, the job was posted on the school's website, but not shared in the customary ways other positions are shared.
Jett referred to the lack of a public job posting, as well.
'To only have the position posted for two weeks … seems like we are not truly having an open and fair process. Why do just the minimum for such an important job for our college, our students, and our community?' he asked in his email.
Jett also pointed out that the college has a fully-equipped Human Resources Department which could assist in finding a suitable candidate.
Davis said she is concerned about the extent to which the Board of Trustees has gotten involved in the hiring process for the presidential position.
'I have never seen [the Board] be involved in day-to-day operations, and according to HLC [Higher Learning Commission], they're not supposed to be,' Davis said. 'I'm just very uncertain as to why this is happening. It deviates so dramatically from what it's supposed to be.'
According to a FOIA response from DACC Board secretary Kerri Thurman, there is no official hiring process on the books for the position beyond how the Board chooses to handle it.
Davis said her formal employment opportunity complaint is still pending, and she still has a list of questions that haven't been answered — questions she sent to the Board a week ago, she said, but still has not received a response beyond an invitation to a meeting.
Among the questions Davis asked included who will serve on the hiring committee.
'Typically people on the hiring committee would have PhDs and people from all across the college would be consulted,' Davis said.
'I've been in higher education for 20 years, and I've never seen anything handled in this way,' Davis said. 'It keeps me up at night because the consequences are severe.'
'When you're bringing someone in, and it hasn't been a transparent process, we don't know what we're getting,' Davis said. 'I had expected that Dr. Fletcher would be competing against the other candidates and that we would get to see some of his ideas, and we haven't seen them.'
'To offer a pretty high salary to someone with no evidence of a work product is pretty concerning to me,' she said. 'This is a very important role in our community and I just want transparency.'
Davis was quick to point out that her issue isn't with Fletcher himself but with the lack of transparency — something Jett also said in his email.
'I have great respect for Dr. Fletcher and think he is a good candidate for the job, but as the elected members to this board, it is your job to ensure we hire the best person for the job. How can you ensure that we hire the best person if no other candidates have had the time and opportunity to apply?' Jett asked.
Jett agrees with Davis that the Board should be careful in choosing the next president.
'I am pleading with you to not rush through this and to make sure we have an open and fair hiring process to eliminate any doubt for the sake of Dr. Fletcher, the college, and our community,' Jett wrote in his letter to the Board.
DACC's will hold a special meeting of the Board Wednesday, June 4, at 2 p.m. with the consideration of extending Fletcher's interim presidential contract on the agenda.
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