New CEOs
Jeffrey Alexander is the next president of Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), effective July 1. He is currently vice president of academic affairs at the Nevada college.
At TMCC, Alexander has championed efforts to expand access, improve student success and strengthen partnerships with industry and regional agencies, according to the college. His work has supported initiatives such as open educational resources, credit for prior learning and expanded certificate programs, contributing to increased retention and enrollment.
Alexander also serves on the Nevadaworks Board and recently chaired the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders.
Prior to TMCC, Alexander was dean of arts and sciences at Pueblo Community College in Colorado for five years, and he also served at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside for eight years, holding various positions, including associate dean of social sciences and professional studies.
Stacy Waters-Bailey will be the next president of North Carolina’s South Piedmont Community College, effective July 1. She is currently vice president of transfer excellence and success at Forsyth Technical Community College (North Carolina).
Waters-Bailey, who joined Forsyth Tech seven years ago, has led numerous grant initiatives and was instrumental in improving student outcomes, notably increasing transfer success rates, boosting enrollment numbers and enhancing student retention, according to the college. Her previous positions at the college include associate vice president of academic strategy and partnerships, executive director of student support services and instruction planning coordinator.
Earlier in her career, Waters-Bailey served at Davidson-Davie Community College, the University of Alabama and Tidewater Community College.
“This opportunity means so much to me, not only as a leader but as someone deeply committed to the life-changing power of community colleges,” Waters-Bailey wrote about her appointment to CEO on her LinkedIn page.
Francisco Solis, who has served as interim president of San Antonio College (SAC) since March 2024, has been named the 14th president of the Texas college.
“After a quarter century of service to SAC, Dr. Solis brings an impressive breadth of academic and administrative experience to the presidency, as well as an abiding passion for the shared mission and vision of Alamo Colleges,” Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Mike Flores said in a release.
Solis, an alumnus of SAC and the first openly LGBTQ president in the college’s 100-year history, started his tenure at SAC in 1999. Since then, he has served in various teaching and leadership roles, starting as a professor and coordinator in the mortuary science program. Other roles included dean for performance excellence and director of learning assessment and review, where he collaborated with college leadership to design and implement the institution’s strategic plan.
Solis also played a significant role in applications that led to major recognition for the college, including the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the Seal of Excelencia the Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose Classification and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He retired from SAC in May 2023 but came out of retirement at the request of the chancellor to serve as interim president.
CEOs on the move
Kathy Murphy has been appointed president of Wallace Community College in Dothan, Alabama, effective June 1. She has served as president of Gadsden State Community College (Alabama), a role she has held since 2021.
“Some people go to work every day to their job and others go to their career and I get to go to my calling,” Murphy said. “I appreciate the opportunity and the privilege I have to be a part of the Alabama Community College system, to have had the absolute blessing and pleasure of serving at Gadsden. Now, I warmly embrace and look forward to the opportunity and the privilege that we’ll have to serve alongside the great folks that are already at Wallace-Dothan.”
Before Gadsden, Murphy was superintendent at two different school districts and principal at three schools over her 30-plus years in education. She also was a professor at the University of West Georgia and Judson College.
Alberto J. Román will become the permanent chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) — the nation’s largest community college district — effective July 1. He has served as LACCD’s interim chancellor since November. Prior to his appointment as interim chancellor, Román was president of East Los Angeles College (ELAC) for four years.
“As an immigrant and first-generation college graduate, I’ve experienced firsthand the power education has to transform lives, and I’m honored to champion accessible education through my appointment as chancellor of LACCD,” Román said in a release. “I carry the district’s mission to heart – ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has access to education and the opportunity to succeed. Our colleges are engines of opportunity, and I’m proud to continue leading this work forward.”
Román brings more than 25 years of experience in education, having served in numerous capacities. He started his education career as an education manager at San Bernardino City Unified School District in 2002, and later served in the Paradise Valley United School District as director of human resources and assistant superintendent. In 2012, he was named vice president at Southwestern Community College and then became vice chancellor of human resources at LACCD, a position he held for almost eight years. He was named president of ELAC in 2020.
Interim CEOs
Alycia Marshall, who has served as provost and vice president for academic success at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), is now interim president of the college.
Marshall began her career in higher education at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, where she served for nearly 23 years before coming to CCP in 2022. At Anne Arundel, Marshall was a math professor, chair of the math department and later associate vice president for learning and academic affairs. According to a release, Marshall was the principal investigator and founder of the college’s Engineering Scholars Program, a National Science Foundation grant-funded program that provides scholarships, mentoring and support services to underrepresented students in STEM.
Alan Smith will serve as interim president of Gadsden State Community College in Alabama as of June 1. He is currently the college’s vice president of capital projects, community relations and workforce development.
The college noted that Smith is a proven leader in higher education and workforce development.
“This is an incredible honor that I embrace with great enthusiasm,” Smith said in a release. “My connection to this college spans more than three decades, beginning with my time as a business student at Gadsden State.”
Smith joined Gadsden State in 2019 as dean of workforce development and has helped secure and manage more than $38 million in investments in career technical education, including the Advanced Manufacturing and Workplace Skills Training Center. Smith also chairs the Workforce Commission for the Alabama Community College Association. In the 2023, he received the Chancellor’s Award for Administrators from the Alabama Community College System.
Steven J. Triezenberg is now interim president of Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.
Triezenberg brings more than three decades of experience in higher education, research and academic leadership. He most recently served as president and founding dean of the Van Andel Institute Graduate School, a position he held until his retirement in June 2023. He joined the institute in 2009.
Kudos
Mautra Staley Jones, president of Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in November. The state’s highest honor recognizes Jones’s extraordinary leadership and contributions in education, service and her unwavering dedication to Oklahoma, according to a release.
Jones was noted for her myriad achievements. In 2022, she made Oklahoma history as both the first woman and first person of color to lead OCCC, and as the first and only African American woman to lead any institution of higher education in Oklahoma that is not a historically black college and university.
“Being inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame is deeply humbling,” Jones said. “It’s a full-circle moment — to be honored by the state that raised me, and to represent the communities and institutions that continue to shape my life’s work.”
Appointments
Keith Ford is the new athletic director at Porterville College in California. He has served in an interim role at the California college since October 2024.
Meredith Hoch-Oescher is now associate vice president of student development at Harford Community College in Maryland. She most recently was dean of student success at Gwynedd Mercy University in Pennsylvania.
Constance “Connie” Wolfe is now executive vice president of programs at Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina. Most recently, she was executive vice president at Alamance Community College from 2020 to 2024.
At Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania, Karen O’Donnell is now vice president for advancement and alumni relations and executive director of the BCCC Foundation, while Lisa Burgess will be the new dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics on July 1. Burgess is currently assistant director for the Center for Teaching & Learning at Boston University. O’Donnell most recently worked at Rosemont College.
At Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts, Joanne Landers is now vice president of student affairs, and Austin Gilliland is vice president of academic affairs. Landers previously was vice president of enrollment management and communications at Plymouth State University. Gilliland comes from Bunker Hill Community College, where she was dean of professional studies.
