Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) Chancellor Christine Johnson announced today Nancy Fair-Szofran will continue in her role as acting president of SFCC until July 2019. She has been serving in this role since the resignation of the former SFCC president in February.
CCS conducted a nationwide search for a permanent president and announced two finalists last month. Both took part in extensive interviews and forums.
“Both of the finalists are very talented, with excellent credentials and great ideas for how they would serve as the president of SFCC,” Johnson said. “However, during our selection process, it became clear many of our faculty and staff believe the college would be best served by postponing selection of a permanent president for a year to allow for renewal after numerous transitions.”
In addition to leadership changes, SFCC also recently embarked on ambitious projects tied to grants totaling over $1.5 million. These include a National Science Foundation 5-year engineering scholarship focus and a state MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) grant, both of which focus on recruiting and supporting students in the STEM programs who are typically underrepresented. SFCC also received a $500,000 state grant to complete its work in establishing Pathways, a way of grouping courses by program areas to increase graduation rates and decrease the time students spend earning their degree.
“I am proud of the good work SFCC is doing and their commitment to continuing to provide outstanding educational services to our community,” Johnson said. “I have great confidence that Dr. Szofran is the right leader to maintain SFCC’s momentum.”
CCS plans to undertake another nationwide presidential search in 2019.
Dr. Szofran is the college district’s provost and chief learning officer, a position she’s held since she joined CCS in 2012. Prior to that, she was the interim library dean and vice president of research, planning and institutional effectiveness at Mt. Hood Community College.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Northeast Missouri State University, a master’s degree in library/information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a doctoral degree in education from the University of Idaho.