New president
Todd Kitchen is the new president of the Eastern Campus at Cuyahoga Community College. He comes to the Ohio college with more than 20 years of experience in higher education, the last 10 spent as vice president of student services at Northwest Arkansas Community College. Prior to that, he served at the Arkansas college as director of admissions and dean of learner administrative services. Before that, Kitchen spent a decade in various positions at Wentworth Military Academy and College in Missouri. He served in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1998.
Kudos
Mary Way Bolt, president of Cecil College in Maryland, has been selected for induction into the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) as an honorary fellow of the Academy. Under her guidance and support, the college’s nursing program has enjoyed immense success. Way Bolt also has roots in the program, having herself attend the nursing program at Cecil College while working weekends as an X-ray technician at a local hospital. Bolt joined the college’s faculty in 1990 and in 1994 was named president.
Anne Kress, president of Northern Virginia Community College, has been named to the 2021 Women Who Mean Business list compiled by the Washington Business Journal. The publication noted in particular her efforts during the pandemic, which began just two months after Kress — who also serves on the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors — started her job at the college.
Appointments
Stephen C. Head, chancellor of the Lone Star College System in Texas, has been appointed to serve on the Texas Commission on Community College Finance by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The commission will make recommendations to establish a state funding formula for community colleges.
“Community colleges are a major part of creating a better future for Texas, and it is very important that they remain on an economically sustainable path and that they are affordable for our students,” Patrick said in a statement. “
Head also serves on the AACC board of directors and the executive committee for the Texas Association of Community Colleges.
In September, Gov. Greg Abbott named his nominees for the commission, which included four representatives from the community college sector.
Carl E Betterson, Jr., is now director for Pathways Home 2 Training Grant at Savannah Technical College in Georgia. The college received its $3.9 million U.S. Labor Department grant this year, which helps individuals involved in the criminal justice system to secure employment in their communities by assisting access to education, career training and apprenticeships. Betterson has correctional experience as deputy warden of care and treatment at Coastal State Prison. He was also the assistant superintendent of Columbus Transitional Center and chief counselor of Rutledge State Prison.
Joseph Caniglia will serve as executive director of Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus in Union City, New Jersey. Caniglia’s 25 years of experience as an educator includes service as a public school teacher and administrator, English and developmental education professor, and interim associate dean for the college’s English and English as a second language division.
Deyanira “Deya” Contreras is now director of the Kids Campus at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. The campus serves as a learning laboratory and demonstration site for those studying early childhood education. Contreras has worked as a faculty member since 2018 in the college’s teacher education program.
Sharron Harris, project director of the TRIO Educational Opportunity Centers at Danville Community College in Virginia, has been named president of the Virginia Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel. The association’s goal is to increase college access by providing services to people who are educationally, culturally, and/or economically disadvantaged and those with disabilities.
Brandi Thomas will serve as director of the Danville Campus at Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) in Kentucky as of November 1. She has more than 18 years of experience in higher education as a classroom instructor, advisor, counselor and, most recently, coordinator of institutional effectiveness and early alert manager at BCTC. She has served in nonprofit administration, managed grants and provided substance abuse prevention leadership.
