The Board of Directors at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) announced that it has begun accepting applications for the fifth president and CEO in the institution’s history. The position will remain open until the job is filled, with priority consideration given to applicants who apply on or before Friday, August 29.

The launch of the application process follows an extensive engagement with key stakeholders at DMACC, both on-campus and off, in which nearly 450 people provided feedback through in-person and online forums and a survey. This input resulted in the creation of a detailed Presidential Profile that will guide the search process.

“This is an exciting opportunity to lead one of Iowa’s premier institutions,” said Kevin Halterman, president of the DMACC Board of Directors, who is chairing the presidential search committee. “We expect this nationwide search to attract a deep pool of talented candidates. We look forward to meeting the individual who will be DMACC’s next great leader.”

The Board has engaged Dr. Larry Ebbers, University Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University, as its search consultant. Ebbers has deep expertise in community college leadership and has led numerous successful presidential searches.

Qualified candidates can submit their applications and read the full job description at jobs.dmacc.edu. Ebbers is also accepting nominations and recommendations.

In September, a screening committee of community college leadership in Iowa will narrow the field to a group of 10 or fewer semi-finalist candidates for online interviews. Around this time, a separate search committee, representing a cross-section of the DMACC community, will be announced. The search committee will conduct these initial online interviews and recommend three to five finalists, who will be invited for on-campus interviews in Ankeny in late October.

As with the open forums earlier in the search process, the entire community will have the opportunity to interact with the finalist candidates.

Those interested in learning more about the search should visit president.dmacc.edu, which contains the search timeline and will eventually host information about the finalists and their on-campus interview visits.

DMACC’s next president will assume the role on January 1, 2026, succeeding Rob Denson, who announced his retirement in January after 22 years of leadership.

For more information, contact:

Kevin Halterman, President
DMACC Board of Directors
kevin.halterman@dmacc.edu