Tuesday’s meeting of the Barton Community College Board of Trustees ended with an announcement: Trustee Don Learned is retiring from the board. His last meeting will be in August and then he will be moving to Texas, where his daughter lives.

“We’re downsizing our house after 50 years. That is hard to do,” he said. His advice: “Don’t live in the same house – move every two or three years.”

By announcing his retirement now, Learned said he hoped the board could start the process for filling the vacant position.

Chairman Mike Johnson said that is outlined by the State. “Probably at the next board meeting we’ll have a timeline laid out and a process we’ll be discussing.”

New president

Dr. Marcus Garstecki joined the meeting via Zoom. He will become Barton’s sixth president after the current president, Dr. Carl Heilman, retires at the end of June. During a discussion of changes to Barton’s Strategic Plan, Chairman Johnson asked whether the Board of Trustees should wait until Garstecki has joined the administration to approve changes to the framework.

Director of Institutional Effectiveness Todd Mobray said the changes at this stage amount to fewer than 100 words. It will be on the agenda for board approval in July.

Garstecki indicated he is comfortable with the work proceeding on schedule.

“I am looking forward to meeting with the leadership team on this,” he said.