Interim CEO
Cecilia Cervantes has been named interim president of Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Cervantes retired as president of Hennepin Technical College (Minnesota) in 2015 and has served as a freelance consultant for Minneapolis Public Schools. She was vice president of academic affairs at Western New Mexico University in Silver City from 1992-94 and associate campus director at Doña Ana Community College in Las Cruces from 1994-98.
Kudos
Gateway Technical College President Bryan Albrecht, who also serves on the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors, this month was honored by Wisconsin’s Three Harbors Council Boy Scouts of America with its 2017 Distinguished Citizen Award for his community leadership and civic dedication. Albrecht serves on the executive board of the council and has actively supported scouting in many ways over the years. One includes spearheading the well-known Merit Badge Tech, an effort that has brought hundreds of scouts to Gateway one Saturday each year to learn new skills and earn a variety of merit badges.
Ben Dillard, president of Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) in South Carolina, has been named the 2017 Entrepreneurial President of the Year by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship. FDTC’s advanced technology center has six business units, each generating revenue for the college in addition to providing venues for education and training, according to NACCE.
Dillard has “led an aggressive effort to establish an entrepreneurial culture over the past four years,” said Rebecca Corbin, president of NACCE. “The faculty and staff continue to find novel ways to add to the economic vibrancy of the college and local community and ignite student excitement and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.”
Daniel Asquino, president emeritus of Mount Wachusett Community College in Massachusetts, has been honored with a national civic leadership award for his long-time commitment to civic learning and community involvement. The Democracy Commitment created the Asquino Award for Civic Leadership and named Asquino as its inaugural recipient. Recipients of the yearly, national award can be staff, faculty or administration who advance systemic change to embed civic education and civic learning in the college and its community.
Appointments
Jim Griffin joins San Jacinto College in Texas as associate vice chancellor/senior vice president for the petrochemical training division. Previously, he was vice president of manufacturing for Dianal America, a Mitsubishi Chemical Company. He has also served as manufacturing director and in a variety of leadership positions with PolyOne Corp.
Wendy Littlefield is now director of annual giving at Cape Fear Community College Foundation in North Carolina. She previously served as the foundation’s interim office manager and special projects assistant.
Jason Treadway is now director of the Dallas County Community College District’s STEM Institute. He has served as director of education at the Frontiers of Flight Museum and as former lead educator for applied science at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.
