Barbara Bryan has taken over as interim president of Broward College, succeeding Gregory Haile and becoming the school’s first female president. The appointee previously served as the CEO of Higher Education Consulting and as a campus president and provost of the college’s North Campus in Coconut Creek.
“I’ve spent the greater part of my career at the institution, and it is an honor for me to return in the capacity of acting president to serve among the dedicated and passionate faculty and staff in our mission to provide quality education and job training to our community,” Bryan said in a statement, according to CBS.
The announcement came barely a day after state education official Henry Mack was named interim head of the college. After interviewing applicants, the Broward College Board of Trustees first chose Mack to succeed former president Haile, who resigned last month.
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Mack previously worked as a senior chancellor at the Florida Department of Education, where he managed the Division of Florida Colleges. However, citing an “inability to come to terms” on a contract with Mack, the school announced that Bryan, a longtime former administrator, will serve as interim president.
Broward College trustees were looking for an interim president who was either a current or past employee or a former trustee. After failing to agree with Mack, the trustees settled on a contract with Bryan. Bryan’s contract contains a $287,000 annualized base salary and is set to last six months.
Mack had asked for $400,000 whereas the job offering indicated a salary range for the position as $250,000 to $350,000, trustee chair Alexis Yarbrough said to The South Florida Sentinel. He also wanted a housing and transportation allowance, Yarbrough added.
“We offered $287,000. We were willing to go up a small amount of money for reimbursement of travel because he doesn’t live in Broward and there would be some commuting back and forth,” Yarbrough said.
Yarbrough told the publication that they were willing to provide an additional trip reimbursement of up to $3,000 because Mack lived in Tallahassee. The school also wanted the acting president’s contract to last for six months but Mack wanted it for more than a year.
Yarbrough stressed that the college stated that the position was temporary and that after some “back and forth” over the parameters, Mack withdrew his name from consideration.
Bryan began her tenure as interim president on October 4.
