The Assiniboine Community College's search for a president to replace Joel Ward has officially begun.

Ward left the position this past summer after accepting a job at Red Deer College. Jim Brinkhurst, the vice-president of corporate services at the college, has been serving as interim president. ACC has hired a Calgary-based executive search firm, Odgers Berndtson, to conduct the search for the college's new boss. The presidential profile has been completed and the process to solicit candidates has begun.

“We've spent a lot of time researching the characteristics we would like the college's new president to possss,” said Harvey Armstrong, chair of ACC's board of governors.

The college is advertising for the president's position on a national level. Short-listing is expected to take place by mid-April and an ACC official said it is hoped the new president will be at his or her desk for the start of the 2010-11 school year.