New CEOs
Dustin Eicke will serve as the next president of Trinidad State College (Colorado), effective June 15. He is currently vice president of performance and planning and accreditation liaison officer at Laramie County Community College (Wyoming).
Eicke brings a strong record of student-centered leadership, strategic planning and workforce alignment, with experience across community colleges and universities throughout the region, according to a release from the Colorado Community College System (CCCS). His work has focused on strengthening academic quality, expanding access, and aligning programs with workforce and economic needs.
“Dr. Eicke is a thoughtful, student-centered leader who understands the transformative role rural community colleges play in their regions,” said CCCS Chancellor Marielena DeSanctis.
Prior to his current post, Eicke was director of institutional research at Western Nebraska Community College. He also had stints at Texas Tech University and the University of the Southwest, where he taught criminal justice.
Nicole Reaves will become the eighth president of SUNY Schenectady County Community College — and its first female president — on July 15. She is currently executive vice president and chief programs officer at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina.
Over her 30-plus-year career in higher education, Reaves has focused on advancing academic excellence, partnering to build strong communities, and championing the life-changing mission of open-access institutions such as community colleges, according to a release. Her experience also includes 12 years of teaching in allied health and college and career readiness.
“Dr. Reaves brings decades of higher education expertise developing dynamic programs with proven results for enrollment and retention increases, creating pathways for non-degree and degree programs to transfer programs and careers, securing sizeable grants for advances in STEM technologies, and partnering with business and industry on programs leading to completion and economic mobility,” said Ann Fleming Brown, who chairs the college’s board of trustees.
Previously, Reaves served as provost of the Medical Education Campus at Northern Virginia Community College and also held leadership roles at Wilbur Wright College (Illinois) and Westmoreland County Community College (Pennsylvania).
Kudos
DeAnna R. Burt-Nanna, president of Monroe Community College (New York), has been named to the New America-Association of Community College Trustees Advisory Committee on Economic & Workforce Development, along with MCC board chair Allen K. Williams. The initiative aims to identify promising practices in trustee leadership for institutional capacity-building related to economic and workforce development.
Travis Binkley, assistant vice president of enrollment services at Clark State College (Ohio), has been named to the Dayton Business Journal’s 2026 Forty Under 40 class. The award recognizes the region’s emerging business leaders for professional success and community involvement. Binkley co-led several major institutional initiatives, including the college’s strategic enrollment management plan.
Appointments
Julissa Colón has been selected as the first dean of student experience at Holyoke Community College (HCC) in Massachusetts. Colón, an alumna of HCC, was previously the inaugural director of El Centro, the college’s bilingual support program.
Liesl Jones has been named provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York. She has served as interim provost since 2024.
