MCC Daily Tribune
Dr. Nicole Reaves Appointed President of SUNY Schenectady County Community College
Dr. Reaves Currently Serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at Wake Tech Community College
Albany, NY — The State University of New York Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to appoint Dr. Nicole Reaves as the eighth president of SUNY Schenectady County Community College. Dr. Reaves currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at Wake Tech Community College. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2026. During today’s meeting, the SUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor King thanked current SUNY Schenectady County Community College President Steady Moono for his leadership of the school, where he has served as president since July 2015.
"SUNY’s community colleges are engines of upward mobility, providing students throughout New York State the opportunity to transform their lives through higher education," SUNY Chancellor King said. "I am confident that Dr. Reaves’ extensive experience leading community colleges will help SUNY Schenectady continue on a path to a bright future. I want to thank President Steady Moono for his leadership, and I look forward to working with incoming President Reaves to advance the success of our students at SUNY Schenectady County Community College."
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "We are pleased to appoint Dr. Nicole Reaves as the next President of SUNY Schenectady County Community College, and we are confident the school will continue to grow and thrive under her leadership. We thank President Steady Moono for his dedicated service to SUNY Schenectady, and his commitment to empowering our students. We look forward to President Reaves hitting the ground running and leading our students to even greater heights."
SUNY Schenectady County Community College Incoming President Dr. Nicole Reaves said, "The dedication of SUNY Schenectady to student access and success and to serving all students resonates deeply with my work and experience. I am truly honored to serve as the next president of SUNY Schenectady and look forward to working alongside this remarkable college community to advance its mission and build upon its legacy of transforming lives and elevating communities locally, regionally, statewide, and globally. My sincere thanks to Chairman Brown, the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees, Chairman Tisch, Chancellor King, and the SUNY Board of Trustees for your approval and the opportunity to serve."
Ann Fleming Brown, Chair of the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees and Presidential Search Committee, said, "We are thrilled with the selection of Dr. Nicole Reaves as the eighth President of SUNY Schenectady as she carries on a tradition of exceptional leadership at the College. Dr. Reaves brings decades of higher education expertise developing dynamic programs with proven results for enrollment and retention increases, creating pathways for non-degree and degree programs to transfer programs and careers, securing sizeable grants for advances in STEM technologies, and partnering with business and industry on programs leading to completion and economic mobility. We are confident that SUNY Schenectady will benefit greatly from Dr. Reaves’ breadth of experience, background in teaching, and her roles overseeing areas including academic affairs, student affairs, workforce, and continuing education, as we continue our important work of empowering our students in their pursuit of lifelong success while serving our community."
About Dr. Nicole Reaves
Dr. Nicole Reaves currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at Wake Technical Community College, where she leads and supervises the provosts over the seven campuses, academic affairs, student services, workforce and continuing education, and effectiveness and innovation. Her leadership has driven significant institutional advancements including a major reorganization to support a one-college framework, better aligning industry-focused non-credit and credit programs to support student success, and the implementation of the college’s strategic plan which has resulted in improved student outcomes.
Previously, Dr. Reaves served in senior leadership roles at Northern Virginia Community College, Wilbur Wright College, and Westmoreland County Community College. As Provost of Northern Virginia Community College’s Medical Education Campus, Dr. Reaves completed an allied health and nursing strategic plan, led the development of a health sciences transfer degree, increased overall campus enrollment by 15 percent after multi-year declines, established vital industry and educational partnerships, specifically partnering with Alexandria City Schools and George Washington University to establish the Governor’s Health Sciences Academy. She and her team also launched the “MEC Mobile” clinic to serve underserved communities while also providing much needed clinical opportunities for students.
Dr. Reaves’ over 30-year long career in higher education has centered on advancing academic excellence, partnering to build strong communities, and championing the life changing mission of open access institutions such as community colleges. Her experience also includes 12 years of teaching experience in Allied Health and College and Career Readiness.
Dr. Reaves earned her doctorate in higher education administration from North Carolina State University. She received both her Master of Arts in education and Bachelor of Science in public health degrees from East Carolina University.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum.
Veronica Chiesi Brown
Community Relations
04/29/2026