New CEOs
Brian Knetl will serve as the fifth president of Waubonsee Community College in Illinois. He is currently provost and executive vice president of academic and student Affairs at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.
Knetl’s experience in community college administration began as an assistant dean at Moraine Valley Community College (Illinois). He then spent 10 years at Harper College (Illinois), serving in several positions: interim provost, associate provost, dean of liberal arts and founding associate dean of the Center for Adjunct Faculty Engagement.
Prior to moving into administration, Knetl was a faculty member in the theater department at Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota.
Pamela Monaco has been selected as the next president of Ocean County College, effective July 1, 2023. She is currently vice president of academic and student affairs at Wilbur Wright College in Chicago.
An accomplished administrator, Monaco brings more than 30 years of higher education experience to the New Jersey college, including senior leadership roles at institutions in Kansas, California and Florida. She previously was dean of instruction at Wilbur Wright, dean of graduate and continuing studies at North Central College (Illinois), and vice president of professional studies and chief academic officer at Southwestern College (Kansas). Earlier in her career, Monaco was dean of arts and Sciences at Brandman University, director of the University Without Walls program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and assistant at the University of Maryland University College.
Jayda Spillers has been selected as chancellor of Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College (NLTCC), effective January 1. She is currently the college’s vice chancellor of academic and student affairs.
Spillers’s academic career has spanned 27 years across Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana at secondary and postsecondary levels of instruction in business education and administration. As NLTCC vice chancellor, Spiller has increased dual enrollment, industry-based certifications and credential attainment by students across the college’s three campuses.
Quintin D. Taylor will become the next chancellor of River Parishes Community College in Louisiana on January 1. He is currently the college’s interim chancellor, a position he has held since June. Taylor also serves as chief public affairs and diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS).
In his brief time as interim chancellor, Taylor has placed a greater emphasis on business operations, enrollment management and processes, empowering faculty and staff, and investing in strategic outreach and marketing. He previously was executive director of strategic communications and community engagement at LCTCS for five years, and over his career also was a communications coordinator for Tennessee’s Memphis City Schools and media relations specialist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida.
Kudos
Justin Lonon, chancellor of Dallas College (Texas), is again in the Dallas 500, an annual list of the most influential leaders in North Texas as selected by D CEO magazine. The Dallas-focused publication’s list recognizes the most prominent business leaders in more than 60 industry categories for their contributions to Dallas-Fort Worth’s economy.
CharMaine Hines, vice chancellor of academic accountability and policy at Wayne County Community College District in Michigan, is one of two people to receive the 2022 Distinguished Dissertation Award from the Council of Graduate Schools and ProQuest. The award recognizes recent doctoral recipients who have made significant and original contributions to their fields. Hines received the 2022 award in social sciences for her dissertation, “Minority Community College CEOs Perceptions of Underrepresentation, Preparation and Ascension to the Presidency,” which she completed at Kansas State University.
Appointments
Taiwo Adefiyiju is now dean of students at the Community College of Rhode Island. She previously was assistant dean of students and director of cultural education at Providence College in Rhode Island.
Kelly Hall will become executive vice chancellor for finance and business services at the San Diego Community College District, effective February 1. She has served as assistant superintendent/vice president for business and financial affairs at Southwestern College (California) since July 2019.
Nathan Hardin is the new executive director of communications at the North Carolina Community College System. The former newspaper reporter previously was director of marketing and communications at Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina.
Sanath Kumar will serve as director of marketing and public relations for both Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) and Ohio State University at Newark. The position reports directly to the COTC president and the Ohio State Newark dean and director. Most recently, Kumar was senior marketing director at CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society.
