CEOs
Maureen Murphy will serve as the fifth president of the College of Southern Maryland, effective July 1. She has served as president of Brookdale Community College in New Jersey since 2012. Prior to that, she was president of San Jacinto College South in Texas and vice president at both Rappahannock Community College and Wytheville Community College in Virginia. At Brookdale, Murphy developed four early college high school programs, launched the Asbury Park College Promise program that covers tuition for qualified students and directed recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy to have the college operational within two and a half weeks. Additionally, after significant funding declines, Murphy realigned the college to focus more on local workforce needs and economic development.
Jimmy H. Baker has been appointed chancellor of the Alabama Community College System, effective April 1. He has served as acting chancellor for more than six months. In 2013, Baker served as interim superintendent for Enterprise City Schools. He began his K-12 career as a teacher and was soon named superintendent. After serving in that role at a couple of school districts for more than a decade, he moved to the state education department as assistant superintendent for finance, where he oversaw all budgets and financial reports for the state education office, local school systems and the community college system. From 1995 to 1999, Baker served as state finance director under Gov. Fob James.
Retirements
Mike Eaton, who has served as president of Itawamba Community College (ICC) in Mississippi for about four years, plans to retire on June 30. His 43-year career at ICC has included serving as assistant to the president, vice president of student services, dean of students, director of student activities, head football coach, assistant football coach and health instructor. Among his notable achievements are the “Graduation…It Matters” campaign, which led to ICC’s achieving the highest percentage increase in graduation rates among all 15 two-year institutions in Mississippi, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program’s selecting ICC as one of the nation’s top 150 community colleges three times and WalletHub’s ranking as sixth best in the nation.
Appointments
Judy Miner, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California, is now chair of the board of directors of the American Council on Education. Miner, who previously was the board’s vice chair, will serve in the position for one year. In its announcement of last week’s election results, ACE cited Miner’s dedication in closing the opportunity and achievement gaps among all student populations in her district.
Kathleen Bombery is the new dean of health sciences at Savannah Technical College in Georgia. Previously, she was associate dean of health sciences at Chattahoochee Technical College for seven years, where she also was an academic advisor.
John Cage is the new financial aid director at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. Cage previously worked in financial aid at Tusculum College, Hiwassee College and the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
Sharon Foshey is now director of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Academy at Pasco-Hernando State College in Florida. She previously was a captain with the Pasco Sherriff’s Office.
Lee Lowry is now director of development for the Hillsborough Community College Foundation in Florida. Previously, she was director of development and communications at a private school.
Karen Miller is now provost and chief academic officer at Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio. Miller, who joined the college’s leadership team in 1998, previously served as vice president of institutional research and enrollment management and dean of student affairs at the Metropolitan Campus.
Bernard Polnariev joins Union County College in New Jersey as dean of curriculum, accreditation and American honors. Prior to this position, he served at LaGuardia Community College in New York for almost five years as administrative executive officer for academic affairs.
Van Williams is the new dean of student services for Palm Beach State College’s Lake Worth campus. He served as an assistant dean at the college for the past three years.
