Interim president
Ryan Foley is now interim president of Southern Crescent Technical College in Georgia. He previously was executive vice president for academic and student affairs at Ogeechee Technical College (OTC) in Georgia. Foley has more than 18 years of experience at OTC, where he began his career in technical education as a human resource coordinator in 2003. Since then, Foley has been director for enrollment services, vice president for student affairs and executive vice president.
Kudos
Shari Olson, president of South Mountain Community College in Arizona, has received the 2021 Paul A. Elsner Excellence in Leadership award from the Chair Academy. The award is named after the former chancellor of Maricopa County Community Colleges and a key figure in the origins of the Chair Academy, which helps to prepare aspiring leaders to move into leadership roles. The annual award recognizes outstanding individuals who exemplify outstanding leadership, support the Academy and its programs and model the way as a transformational leader.
Alicia Moore, vice president of student affairs at Central Oregon Community College, has received the Oregon Community College Association’s (OCCA) Cam Preus Award for extraordinary commitment to community colleges. The statewide honor recognizes a community college employee, current or former, who has made a significant impact in the community college sector on both a local and larger level, with at least 15 years of career service. The award announcement highlighted Moore’s “unflinching commitment” to student access and success, her proven leadership and an extraordinary work ethic.
Appointments
Hart Nelson is the new chief operations officer at St. Louis Community College. Previously, he was associate vice chancellor for the college’s Workforce Solutions Group, a position he held since 2018. His professional career experience includes roles as vice president of public policy for the St. Louis Regional Chamber, a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, an intelligence officer with the United States Navy Reserve and an information technology architect with IBM.
Jason Petrait is the new executive director of the statewide Center of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing at Everett Community College in Washington. Most recently, he was director of funding and strategic partnerships at the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, where he oversaw private grants focused on manufacturing sector strategies, aerospace apprenticeship and workforce policy.
Anthony “Tony” Ponder will become provost at Sinclair Community College in Ohio on February 1. He is currently dean of science, mathematics and engineering at the college. Ponder joined Sinclair in 1991 as a math instructor and has served as dean since 2012.
