[SPOKANE, Wash.] Today, Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) announced the names of the finalists for the Spokane Community College (SCC) president position, which became vacant in May 2023 when the former president, Kevin Brockbank, was promoted to serve as chancellor of the CCS district.

The candidates are Kendra Ericson, Ph.D., president of St. Luke’s College in Sioux City, Iowa; Michael J. Lee, Ph.D., vice president for instruction at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash.; and Peter G. Williams, Ph.D., interim vice president of instruction at Tillamook Bay Community College in Tillamook, Oregon.

The three finalists will visit Spokane in April to take part in interviews and forums. A final selection is anticipated to be made by the end of April with the new president starting in July.

Brockbank thanked the presidential screening committee for its work in reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and bringing forth three finalists for the position. He encouraged members of the community to join faculty and staff in attending public forums to meet the candidates.

The open public forums will all be at SCC in the Lair, Building 6. Here is the schedule:

• Kendra Ericson: 2:30-3:45 p.m., Monday, April 8

• Michael J. Lee: 2:30-3:45 p.m., Tuesday, April 9

• Peter G. Williams: 2:30-3:45 p.m. Friday, April 12

In addition to these forums, all candidates will spend a full day in a series of interviews and meetings with campus and district stakeholders.

SCC is one of the largest community colleges in the state, with extensive adult basic education and English as a second language programs, a large array of health care programs and career-technical programs and a strong associates of arts transfer degree program. Last year 2,208 people earned degrees at SCC and 2,583 people earned professional certificates. In addition to its main campus in Spokane, SCC also operates four rural campuses in the northern counties. SCC and Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) comprise the Community Colleges of Spokane, which serves a six-county region in eastern Washington.

Here are the full bios of the presidential finalists:

Dr. Kendra Ericson, Ph.D., is the president of St. Luke’s College in Sioux City, Iowa, where she has served since January 2020. St. Luke’s College is a private, not-for-profit-health-based college. Prior to this, Dr. Ericson was the director of Nursing Education for seven years at the Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa and the director of Nursing at LeTourneau University in Texas. Prior to moving into administrative positions, she was a member of the nursing faculty at Bryant & Stratton College (Wis.), Columbia College of Nursing (Wis.) and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges District Scott Campus. She also worked as a nurse for eight years.

She has served on numerous professional and community organizations including being president of the Iowa Association for Career and Technical Colleges, and president of the Iowa Health Educator Association.

Dr. Ericson earned her Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Phoenix. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and her associate degree in Nursing from Trinity College of Nursing Moline in Illinois.

Michael J. Lee, Ph.D., is the vice president for instruction at Columbia Basin College (CBC) in Pasco, Wash., a role he has held since July 2019. Prior to this, he was CBC’s vice president for instruction for Arts, Sciences and Program Development from 2017-2019. Dr. Lee is a senior associate professor of English at CBC, was a member of the English and foreign language faculty at Grays Harbor College and Henan Medical University in Zhengzhou, China.

He has served on the SBCTC Instructional Commission since 2017, took part in the American Association of Community Colleges’ Future Presidents Institute and the League for Innovation’s Executive Leadership Institute.
Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. in English and the Teaching of English at Idaho State University, his Master of Arts in English Studies at Western Washington University and his Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Idaho.

Peter G. Williams, Ph.D., is the interim vice president of instruction at Tillamook Bay Community College, a role he has held since February 2024. Prior to this he was the vice president of Academic and Student Affairs at Clatsop Community College (Ore.) from 2020-2023. During that same time, he also worked as adjunct faculty at the School of the Environment, WSU Vancouver. Dr. Williams was the dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Clark College, where he also served as an adjunct faculty member. He was the associate dean of Student Services at SCC from 2003-2011 and was an adjunct faculty member at Gonzaga University during most of that same period.

He has served as chair of the Washington State Articulation and Transfer Council and was selected to participate in the Washington Executive Leadership Academy.

Dr. Williams earned his Ph.D. in Education, Community College Leadership Program, at Oregon State University, his Master of Science in Environmental Science at Washington State University, Pullman, and his Bachelor of Arts in Geology and Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont.

For more information contact Strategic Communications Manager Kayla Friedrich at kayla.friedrich@ccs.spokane.edu or Communications Director Jeff Bunch at jeff.bunch@ccs.spokane.edu.
 
Community Colleges of Spokane provides education and services in a six-county region of Eastern Washington, operates Spokane Falls Community College and Spokane Community College and is the largest provider of Head Start and Early Childhood Education in the region. Each year, nearly 30,000 people – from infants to senior citizens – are provided educational services by CCS.