Wills’ attempts to keep Blacklaw’s departure silent as long as possible–Was Governing Board informed before they voted to increase Wills’ salary?

For the past several days, the Blog has been attempting to verify rumors coming from various sources that Provost and Vice President for Instruction and Student Development, Stuart Blacklaw, was abandoning the Prescott administration. Requests to the President’s office to deny or confirm that he was leaving went unanswered. Requests directly to VP Blacklaw to confirm or deny he was leaving likewise went unanswered.

However, several reliable independent sources outside the administration confirmed that he is leaving by late July for a position in Pennsylvania. An announcement by the College was finally made yesterday on its web page (click here to read its announcement). It is clear that the administration’s refusal to respond to the Blog’s request for confirmation of his departure over  the last six days was some kind of effort to keep the decision from the public as long as possible. That effort ended yesterday. 

Dr. Stuart Blacklaw

Blacklaw was hired November 1, 2013 and lasted a mere 18 months. He replaced Dr. Greg Gillespie, who left the Wills’ administration to accept a job as president of Ventura Community College in Ventura, California. Blacklaw was made a provost earlier this year by Wills.

Scott Farnsworth, Dean of Science, Health, and Public Service, is taking over Blacklaw’s role as the Interim Vice President. Dr. Blacklaw leaves for Pennsylvania in late July and Dean Farnsworth begins as interim VP July 20 and will continue in that post through the fall term. Reliable sources also inform the blog that Dr. Farnsworth cannot be an applicant for the permanent position. The search to replace Blacklaw is to begin in September.

It is not clear whether Dr. Penelope Wills knew of Blacklaw’s decision to abandon the College at the time the District Governing Board reviewed her work as president on June 9. It is clear that not a word of his pending departure appears in the record of that meeting.