Lake Michigan College is expanding the search for its next president after the college’s board of trustees determined that Montcalm Community College’s Rob Spohr was not the right fit for the job.

Spohr, vice president of academic affairs at Montcalm, was a finalist in the Benton Township-based community college’s 2015 presidential search, which resulted in the hiring of Jennifer Spielvogel, who was fired by the board in May after just four months on the job.

Following Spielvogel’s termination, the board decided to take a closer look at Spohr, who made it clear to the board that he was still interested in the position.

“Mr. Spohr was a strong candidate and is an outstanding individual, but the board determined that he is not the best fit for the college at this time,” said LMC Board President Mary Jo Tomasini. “The board is also responding to input from various LMC stakeholders and individuals in our communities who have expressed a preference for us to expand our applicant pool.”

In doing so, the board reviewed proposals from various academic search consultants and chose the firm Pauly Group to assist LMC with the process to identify, recruit and assess potential candidates.

LMC considers the Pauly Group to be one of the nation’s leading academic search consulting firms. Pauly Group has been exclusively focused on community and technical colleges since 1990.

Candice Elders, LMC’s director of marketing, said while the baseline cost for the firm is $45,000, the search firm expense will have an overall budget neutral impact because LMC is accruing salary savings in the absence of a full-time president on the payroll.

Elders said the board is working on finalizing the timeline and application process with a goal to have a new president in place by the end of 2016.

Robert Harrison, a longtime LMC president who came out of retirement to serve as interim president, will continue to serve until a new president is in place.

When asked if the board is doing anything differently in this presidential search compared to the last one, Tomasini said the board’s initial process in 2015 was very thorough.

“Candidates were meticulously reviewed by students, staff, faculty and public citizens representing our entire district, and finalists were scrupulously vetted. We plan to maintain the elements that keep the process inclusive and transparent, but this time we have access to a more sophisticated set of tools and resources including a new search firm,” she said. “The Pauly Group specializes exclusively in helping community and technical colleges. They have specific knowledge and experience to understand the unique traits that make a successful community college president and have access to a vast network of potential candidates. We’re impressed by what we’ve seen so far.”

Spielvogel was fired from her position May 5 after board members determined she allegedly made unapproved and unauthorized expenses to the college, violated multiple board policies and behaved improperly.

Spielvogel has since filed a lawsuit against LMC for wrongful termination. The lawsuit remains ongoing.