Selkirk College President accepts new challenges in Atlantic Canada

After a decade at the helm of Selkirk College, Marilyn Luscombe has accepted the position of President and CEO of New Brunswick Community College (NBCC). She will assume her new position on January 1, 2011.

"I suppose it would be natural to say that our loss is New Brunswick’s gain, but I don’t believe that to be a fair representation of the situation," said Stefan Lehmann, Chair of the Selkirk College Board of Governors. "A more accurate assessment would be to say that we have benefitted from a decade of Marilyn’s leadership, and now she has accepted a new challenge."

From Marilyn’s perspective, this has been a decision that was made with a great deal of soul searching. "This has been a very difficult decision, but one that I am convinced is the right one for me at this stage in my personal and professional journey. I hope that it is also the right time for Selkirk as staff work together, and with the next president, into what I know will be a magnificent future."

In accepting this position as head of NBCC (Anglophone), Marilyn will in fact become its very first President and CEO. In the Spring of 2009, New Brunswick’s Minister of Post Secondary Education Training and Labour announced the formation of a new NBCC (Anglophone) with a board and a president, and CCNB (Francophone), also with a board and a president. The College had previously been operated out of the Ministry under the leadership of an Executive Director. The NBCC Board of Governors was put in place in Spring 2010 and the recruitment of the College’s inaugural President and CEO was one of their first orders of business. NBCC’s nation-wide search for a person with ‘solid leadership experience in post-secondary education and a proven record of leading complex organizations through significant change’ led them to Selkirk’s President of ten years.

"The choice of Marilyn as the inaugural President and CEO for NBCC will have a most significant impact on the success of the ‘’new’’ NBCC. We all look forward to working with her as we bring our college into the future," said Cheryl M.G. Robertson, Chair, NBCC Board of Governors.

Selkirk College will now undertake its search for a new President and CEO, a process that may take the Selkirk Board into next Spring. "In the near future, we will be announcing the appointment of an Interim President for Selkirk College, effective January 1, 2011," stated Board Chair Stefan Lehmann. "There is every likelihood that there will be a period of time between Marilyn assuming her new position and the hiring of a new leader for Selkirk. It is very important that we have no lapse in leadership for our College during that time."

Ms. Luscombe stated, "A part of my heart will always be with Selkirk College. My experience here, and as a citizen in the West Kootenay Boundary Region, has been profoundly meaningful and one that I will always cherish. Selkirk is a special place - created in the early 1960’s by its communities, and evolved with the love, creativity and commitment of its employees. Selkirk is an investment by our Government and our communities in the health and prosperity of this Region and its people. The return on that investment has been and will continue to be huge."

First published on August 19, 2010