With the departure of Dr. Dustin Swanger in Workforce Development and Technical Education we were afforded the opportunity to evaluate the position and how best we can serve our community in the area of workforce development. After talking with leaders in government, business and community organizations, I have decided to take their advice and more closely align the position with the President’s Office. The new position will be an Assistant to the President for Economic Development, focusing solely on meeting the economic and workforce needs of our community.
Diane Cecero, General Counsel, will lead our search team. In the interim, Tom Fitch, Program Director in MCC’s Workforce Development Office since 1996, will coordinate our economic development efforts. Tom currently works with corporate and industry partners to provide Rochester’s workforce with educational opportunities. He helps companies understand that higher productivity comes through appropriate training and assessment.
Kate Schiefen will continue to serve as Associate Dean of Technical Education, a position to which she was hired in May. She will report in the interim to Janet Glocker, Vice President of Academic Services. Kate joined MCC as an instructor of non-credit workforce development classes several years before she became an adjunct in HVAC in 1988 and full-time faculty in 1994. She chaired the Applied Technologies Department from 1998 to 2003.
Also in the interim, Michael Karnes, Dean of Public Safety Programs, will report to Vice President Glocker, and Colonel John J. Perrone Jr., director of the Homeland Security Management Institute, will report to Richard Degus, Executive Assistant to the President.
Many thanks to all faculty and staff for your support of these individuals and their programs during this interim period.
R. Thomas Flynn
President
07/08/2004 |