CEO on the move
Michael A. Baston will become the fifth president of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) on July 1. He is currently president of Rockland Community College (RCC) in New York, a position he has held since 2017.
Baston has led numerous initiatives to increase educational opportunities at RCC, including a new hospitality and culinary arts center, career and English skills academies to address middle-skill workforce needs and an increase in fundraising. He also serves as a Guided Pathways and Equity Transfer Initiative coach for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to help colleges integrate student success initiatives.
Among many other professional honors and activities, Baston is chair of the Black Male CEO Educators network and a member of the AACC board of directors, chairing its Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In March, he was elected to the board of trustees at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
Prior to RCC, Baston held leadership positions at LaGuardia Community College (New York), including acting provost and vice president for academic and student affairs. He also was associate provost and associate dean for student affairs and enrollment management. Before LaGuardia, Baston served for 10 years as dean of student development and campus life for the New York campuses of Berkeley College.
Baston began his career as an attorney representing various educational institutions and social justice organizations. His work with academic clients led him to pursue a second career in academics as both a professor of legal studies and business and a student affairs administrator.
New presidents
Warren M. Hilton will become the new president of New York’s Onondaga Community College (OCC) on July 1. He will be OCC’s 9th president and its first Black CEO. Hilton is currently vice president of enrollment management and student affairs at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he has served since 2016.
Before Kutztown, Hilton was an administrator at several Pennslyvania colleges and universities, including dean of enrollment management at Community College of Philadelphia, associate dean for student and external affairs at Drexel University, associate dean for student development and director of career services at Moravian College, and assistant director at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Tiffany E. Hunter will be the next president of Paradise Valley Community College, which is part of Arizona’s Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). She starts on July 18. Since 2020, Hunter has served as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Clark State College in Ohio. Prior to that, she was dean of education and human services at Florida State College at Jacksonville for seven years.
Hunter also serves on several local and national committees, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs.
“Throughout the search process, Dr. Hunter impressed the various stakeholder groups with her passion for educational excellence and the shared mission of community colleges,” said MCCCD Interim Chancellor Steven R. Gonzales. “She also demonstrated a commitment to serving students with strategies rooted in equity and inclusion. Along with her impressive track record of leadership and achievement in higher education, Dr. Hunter is the right choice to lead PVCC in the years ahead.”
Amy Kremenek was named the fifth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College in New York. She begins June 1. For the past seven years, Kremenek she has served as vice president of enrollment, development and communications at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York. Prior to that, she was vice president of human resources and external relations at Onondaga.
Kremenek “is the right person at the right time for Tompkins Cortland Community College. She has a commitment to higher education in the region and is a proven leader. Her experience, her knowledge of the college and SUNY, and her passion for the mission of a community college, including TC3’s many innovative programs, make her the perfect fit,” Ray Schlather, chair of the college’s board of trustees, said in an announcement.
In addition to her work at Onondaga, Kremenek has been active in several service organizations, including serving as board president of the SUNY Council on University Advancement, the founding chapter president of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges and the OCC Achieving the Dream Leadership Team.
Robert Pimentel will lead Fresno City College (FCC) as of July 1. He is currently vice president of educational services and institutional effectiveness at the California college. He has served in that position since 2018.
Prior to FCC, Pimentel served at his alma mater, West Hills College Coalinga, as associate dean of educational services and also as director of special grants projects for the West Hills Community College District.
“Dr. Pimentel has a wealth of experience, and I am looking forward to working with him in his new role. He has been highly successful as a vice president of Fresno City College and he enjoys tremendous support on the campus and in the district,” Carole Goldsmith, chancellor of the State Center Community College District, said in a statement.
John Selmon has been named president of Muskegon Community College, effective July 1. He has served at the Michigan college since 2011 and is currently provost/executive vice president providing leadership and oversight for academic affairs, athletics, facilities and student services.
Among his accomplishments at MCC, Selmon was project lead for several major building projects including the $19.8 million Sturrus Technology Center, the $14.1 million Health and Wellness Center, the $9 million Art and Music Building, and the $805,000 Automotive Center. He was also a co-lead for the $9.6 million Science Center. Selmon also revised emergency practices and procedures and is credited with spearheading campus discussions on divisive issues affecting the nation, such as race, law enforcement, bias, defamation, economic injustice, incarceration and gun control.
Prior to MCC, Selmon was executive dean of student services at Lake Michigan College and also worked at Kennesaw State University and Davenport University Educational System. Selmon is also a proud student-athlete alumnus of Grand Rapids Community College. He was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American wrestler on the college’s national championship team.
Retirement
Doreen Larson, president of Ohio’s Edison State Community College, has announced that she plans to retire by June 2023. She joined the college in 2015 as its first female president.
Under Larson’s leadership, Edison State has seen its enrollment increase by more than 50%, opened two new campuses, constructed a new student career center, developed innovative workforce partnerships and best practices, and created a premier model of the state’s College Credit Plus program.
Larson has been recognized consecutive from 2016 to 2019 by the Dayton Business Journal as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in the greater Dayton area. She was elected to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors from 2015 to 2018 and currently serves on the AACC President’s Advisory Board for Community College Apprenticeships. She was selected to chair the AACC Commission on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion from 2012 to 2018. In 2018, Larson was inducted into the Association of Ohio Commodores in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the state’s economic development.
Larson’s experience in community college education began at Lakeland Community College in Ohio as a faculty member, where she established the first office of services for students with disabilities. She then became vice president of student affairs at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts, where she increased minority enrollment by advocating for increased minority representation at all levels of student services. In 2010, Larson became president of Pierpont Community and Technical College in West Virginia.
