William Serrata, president of El Paso Community College (Texas), will become chair of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors on July 1, succeeding Alex Johnson, president of Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio.
Richard Rhodes, president of Austin Community College (Texas), will serve as chair-elect of the board of directors, effective July 1.
As president of the El Paso Community College (EPCC), Serrata leads an institution that currently offers more than 130 academic programs and more than 350 personal enrichment/continuing education courses at five campuses throughout El Paso County. Serrata is an active member of the El Paso community and serves as a board member on several organizations, including Workforce Solutions Borderplex, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, United Way of El Paso, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas – El Paso Branch. He also is chair of the board for the Hospitals of Providence East Campus, and is the East Campus representative on the Combined Board for the Hospitals of Providence.
On the national level, Serrata is board chair of Excelencia in Education, serves on the board for Catch the Next and is an advisory board member of the Higher Education Research and Development Institute. Serrata previously served on the National Student Clearinghouse Advisory Council and was a member of the 2015 class of the Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows.
Under Serrata’s leadership, the Aspen Institute named EPCC as one of 10 national finalists for the 2015 Aspen Prize for community college excellence, which recognizes a college’s impact on student success. EPCC was selected from among 1,200 community colleges. Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education continues to recognize EPCC as the national leader in awarding associate degrees to Hispanic students. EPCC was announced as the winner of the 2016 AACC Award of Excellence for student success and the 2016 Western Regional Equity award winner of the Association of Community College Trustees.
The new college representatives to the AACC board elected in February are:
- Kimberly Beatty, chancellor, Metropolitan Community College (Missouri)
- Ava Parker, president, Palm Beach State College (Florida)
- Bill Pink, president, Grand Rapids Community College (Michigan)
- Cheryl Roberts, president, Shoreline Community College (Washington)
- Lori Sundberg, president, Kirkwood Community College (Iowa)
- John J. Sygielski, president, HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College
The board’s new council representatives are Zarina Blankenbaker, president of Tarrant County College – Northwest Campus (Texas), and Toni Hopper Pendergrass, president of San Juan College (New Mexico). Stephen Head, chancellor of the Lone Star College District (Texas), is the new institutional at-large representative, and Christina Ponce, president of Temple College (Texas), is the public at-large representative.
David Harrison, president of Columbus State Community College (Ohio), John Rainone, president of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (Virginia), and Alissa Young, president of Hopkinsville Community College (Kentucky), were selected by the AACC board to fill the unexpired terms of board members.
