Editor’s note: CCDaily is adding a new category to Newsmakers. “CEO Milestones” will feature presidents and chancellors who are celebrating their 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, etc. anniversaries at their colleges. Let us know! Email: mdembicki@aacc.nche.edu
New CEO
Stephanie Bulger will serve as the eighth president of Lane Community College (LCC) in Oregon, effective this summer. She is currently vice chancellor for instructional services at the San Diego Community College District, a position she has held since 2015. Bulger has more than two decades of experience in higher education, having held campus and district leadership positions, including campus associate dean, dean of distance learning, campus chief academic officer and vice chancellor. Prior to her current post, Bulger was vice chancellor for educational affairs and distance learning at Wayne County Community College District in Detroit.
Bulger has been involved in initiatives such as regional community college collaborations, public-public and public-private partnerships, entrepreneurial initiatives and philanthropic enterprises. The LCC board noted that her efforts have improved student transfer to universities, lowered textbook costs through open educational resources, expanded opportunities for dual enrollment, improved enrollment management and more. She is also committed to strengthening equity, diversity and inclusion in community colleges.
CEO on the move
Russell A. Kavalhuna will serve as the next chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, beginning this summer. He is currently president of Henry Ford College in Michigan, a position he has held for three years. Prior to that, Kavalhuna was executive director of flight operations at the Western Michigan University College of Aviation, the nation’s third-largest collegiate aviation program. He also taught a course in the curriculum. Before beginning his education career, Kavalhuna worked as a federal prosecutor and a commercial airline captain.
“Russ Kavalhuna is a transformational higher educational leader who is uniquely prepared to move forward our community college system and elevate it to be the best in the nation,” NL Bishop, chair of the State Board for Community Colleges, said in a statement. “Russ is an outside-the-box thinker, and an innovator whose career has focused on workforce development and finding creative ways to connect adult learners with high-demand career opportunities. We are excited to bring this rock star to Virginia.”
Retirement
Christine Sobek, who has served for 21 years as president over her 33 years at Waubonsee Community College in Illinois, has announced she plans to retire at the end of the calendar year. Sobek joined Waubonsee in 1989 as dean of students and moved up the ranks as provost, executive vice president for educational affairs, assistant vice president for instruction and assistant vice president for student development. As president, Sobek led the development of two of the college’s four campuses and expanded its main campus with five new buildings.
Sobek has received numerous honors and awards over her career. In 2018, she was named to Chicago’s Notable Women in Education by Crain’s Custom Media and was a finalist in 2013 for an AACC Award of Excellence in the category of emerging leadership. In 2002, Sobek received the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction from Phi Theta Kappa. Sobek has also served on many community and education organizations at the local, state and national level, including the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors from 2014 to 2017, in addition to various AACC committees and commissions. In addition, she is a past president and vice president of the Illinois Council of Community College Presidents.
Sobek said in a 2021 interview that she considers herself a “chief relations officer” who works closely with elected officials, school district superintendents, chambers of commerce and other local leaders to keep them up to date with the college. Those relationships have been invaluable in developing the local workforce and providing access to education, evening connecting with local K-12 systems through programs such as dual enrollment.
“The reason we’re so valuable is that we’re boots on the ground. We are embedded in our communities,” she said in the interview with her alma mater, Northern Illinois University. “We can pivot more quickly. We have the opportunity to be more flexible – to be more dynamic – and to really adjust quickly.”
Appointments
The Community College Baccalaureate Association, an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges, has added a new group of community college leaders to its board of directors, including Cynthia E. Spiers, president of Rhodes State College in Ohio; Madeline Pumariega, president of Miami Dade College in Florida; and Joyce Hammer, vice president of instruction at Centralia College in Washington. Twenty-five states currently have community college baccalaureate degrees including bachelor of applied science, bachelor of science and bachelor of arts.
Greg Cash is now interim dean of instruction at Lamar Community College (LCC) in Colorado. Cash retired from education in July 2020 after serving as LCC’s agriculture, equine and rodeo department chair for five years.
J. Rachel Ober is now career services coordinator at Savannah Technical College in Georgia. Previously, Ober was the K-12 Covid liaison for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Michael Webber has been named director of student success at Wor-Wic Community College in Maryland. He previously was coordinator of the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Maryland’s Salisbury University, where he is also an adjunct professor of communications.
