Fourth finalist for COCC presidency named
The fourth finalist for the position of president at Central Oregon Community College is Dr. Jerrilee Mosier, the chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College Northeast in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the school announced Monday.
The COCC Board of Directors met in December and announced the names of three of the finalists; Mosier had asked for additional time to inform colleagues prior to having her name released.
The other finalists include Dr. Leah Bornstein, president of Coconino Community College in Flagstaff, Ariz.; Dr. Jimmie Bruce, vice president of academic success at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas; and Dr. Tony Miksa, vice president of academic and student affairs at McHenry County College in Illinois.
The candidate visits will take place during the last two weeks in January.
Dr. Mosier has been chancellor of Ivy Tech-Northeast since 2010. She previously worked for 12 years as vice president for workforce and economic development at Edmond Community College in Washington.
Her additional administrative experience includes serving as vice provost of academic affairs at Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City; vice president of instruction at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Oklahoma; and vice president of instruction at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kansas. She began her career in community colleges as a faculty member and division dean at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.
Dr. Bornstein has been president at Coconino Community College since 2007. The college has campuses in Flagstaff and Page, and outreach centers in four other communities. Prior to joining Coconino, she served as campus executive officer for Colorado Mountain College’s Summit County Campus. She has been chief academic officer at Lamar Community College in Colorado; vice president of instruction at the Higher Colleges of Technology-Center for Education Research and Training at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; and vice president for academic affairs at University College at the University of Denver.
Dr. Bruce has been at Northwest Vista College for 12 years. Northwest Vista, one of five Alamo Colleges in the San Antonio area, has an enrollment of 16,000 students. As vice president of academic success, Bruce oversees all credit and continuing education instructional programs and supervises the library, academic tutoring, distance education, high school dual credit and he is the accreditation liaison for the college. Previously, he was dean of student success and chief student affairs officer at Northwest Vista. He came to Texas from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Kentucky where he was a tenured faculty member, division chair and administrator for 13 years.
Dr. Miksa, in his role as vice president of academic and student affairs, oversees both the academic and student affairs divisions, as well as human resources, at McHenry Community College. He has led the college through two contract negotiations and the development of an educational master plan. He began his career as an admissions counselor at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and then was a mathematics instructor and basketball coach at Kishwaukee Community College in Illinois. He then became dean of math, education, science and health at Kishwaukee, and following that, dean of math, science, engineering and health professions at Elgin Community College, also in Illinois.
Following the visits, the Board of Directors plans to hire the next president for COCC. Currently, Dr. Shirley Metcalf is serving as interim president, following the retirement of Dr. Jim Middleton, who was president from 2004 to 2014.
