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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday appointed members to a new board to oversee the two-year college system.
Bentley named the appointments a day after the bill creating the board won final approval in the Alabama Legislature. The legislation removed the college system from the oversight of the state Board of Education.
Proponents of the bill said the two-year college system would be better served by a board focused exclusively on its needs, including workforce development. Bentley's appointments included engineers and business owners and executives.
Bentley appointed: Al Thompson, the owner of Thompson Properties; Ron Fantroy, a plant manager at Shaw Industries Group; Susan Blythe Foy, marketing director for Russell Medical Center; J. Frank Caldwell, retired president of Ridgewood Healthcare Center; Crystal Brown, business development director for the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce; Milton A. Davis, director of industrial business development for B.L. Harbert International; Chuck Smith, retired human resources manager for RockTenn Paper; and H. Blake McAnally, owner of the Pugh Wright McAnally, Inc.
The appointments must be confirmed by the Alabama Senate.
The state school board opposed the change with some members calling it a power grab.
The community college system consists of more than 25 institutions scattered across the state.
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