Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
A contract for the new Clovis Community College president was unanimously approved Wednesday during a regularly scheduled CCC Board of Trustees meeting.
John Neibling of Arizona will be paid $135,000 annually to pilot the community college. The Kansas native, who has served as the vice president for instruction at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona since 2001, is slated to begin his tenure June 26.
“This is an opportunity I have been looking forward to my entire life,” Neibling said Wednesday in a telephone interview with the Clovis News Journal.
“I was very selective as I looked at opportunities to become a (college) president. Clovis was very high on my list in terms of the kind of community I would like to serve.”
Also ensured in his contract is an expense account of at least $20,000 annually. That account is approved for limited uses, such as travel expenses and interactions with legislators, according to CCC Board of Trustees Chairman Russell Muffley. The president will be reimbursed for expenses upon furnishing receipts, Muffley said.
In addition, Neibling will be afforded a car for personal and professional use through the contract, college officials said. He is entitled to a replacement vehicle once a year, with the board paying for operating costs, such as gas, repairs and insurance.
Once the initial five-year contract expires, it will be automatically renewed every year, but it can be broken. If so, cause on his part must be established, or Neibling will receive a severance package for the duration of one year.
College officials said the contract is a replica of the one written when former CCC president Beverlee McClure accepted the position in 1999.
McClure left the college last August to accept a position as the state’s first secretary of higher education.
Neibling, who snagged the position over four finalists, including Clovis native and CCC vice president Becky Rowley, said negotiating the contact was “no problem at all.”
“I have been reading literature on New Mexico and the issues surrounding the college — like (Cannon Air Force) base — voraciously,” said Neibling, who possesses a doctorate in educational administration and supervision from Arizona State University, as well as degrees in English from the University of Kansas. He previously worked in New Mexico as an administrator of the San Juan College in Farmington.
“I think (Neibling’s) employment is a step forward for the community and the college,” Muffley said.
Other trustees expressed similar sentiments, according to a CCC press release.
Board members Gayla Brumfield and Terry Martin were absent from the meeting, the first held since trustees entrusted Neibling with the position in a 3-2 vote in late April.
