Committee chooses three finalists for Lanier Tech top job

ATLANTA - A current technical college president and two vice presidents are the finalists to become the next president of Lanier Technical College.

A selection committee chaired by Roger Slaton, the agent/owner of State Farm Insurance in Dawsonville, interviewed six candidates to replace Russell Vandiver, who is retiring at the end of March after 37 years at the college, including the last three as its president.

The finalists are Jamie Loyd, the vice president of economic development at Columbus Technical College in Columbus, Georgia; Dr. Ray Perren, the president of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College in Valdosta, Georgia; and Dr. Joanne Tolleson, the vice president of institutional effectiveness and operations at Lanier Technical College.

TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson will interview the three candidates during the week of March 11. He is expected to ask the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia to approve his choice during the board's monthly meeting in Atlanta on April 4.

"I want to thank Roger Slaton and his fellow committee members for the time and effort that they put forth to help in the selection process for the next president of Lanier Technical College. They have presented me and the TCSG State Board with three outstanding candidates for the job," said Jackson.

The other selection committee members were Doug Carter, president and broker of Don Carter Realty Company in Gainesville and member of the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia; Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall County Chamber of Commerce; Gwen Hill, owner of Hill's Ace Hardware and Lumber in Winder; Lynn Jackson, administrator of Northside Hospital-Forsyth and member of the Lanier Technical College Board of Directors; Tracy L. Moon, Jr., partner in the law firm of Fisher and Phillips LLP in Atlanta and member of the Lanier Technical College Foundation Board of Trustees; and Dennis Stockton, publisher of the Gainesville Times.