The Community College of Allegheny County board on Tuesday selected Quintin B. Bullock, a dentist and president of Schenectady County Community College in New York, as CCAC's new president.
Bullock, who was appointed as a result of a national search that attracted 37 applicants, will receive a three-year contract and make $239,000 a year.
CCAC board Chair Amy Kuntz said Bullock quickly moved to the top of the list with the college's search committee and then with the board of trustees. Bullock's experience and commitment to student success, fiscal management, fundraising and workforce development were key to the board's decision, she said.
“He is the total package,” she said.
Bullock, 55, said he was impressed with CCAC's dedication to student success initiatives.
“It's an institution on the move, and I saw an opportunity to join them and continue the trajectory,” he said.
Bullock, who is single, will assume duties at CCAC in March.
He becomes CCAC's ninth president as college officials weigh the impact of rising costs, stagnant public subsidies and a 7.8 percent decline in enrollment this fall.
He succeeds Alex Johnson, who left earlier this year after 5 1⁄2 years as CCAC president to head Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.
Born and raised in Houston, Bullock earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Prairie View A&M University in Texas and taught high school science in the city schools in Houston.
He earned a doctorate of dental surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center's Dental Branch and practiced dentistry at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health in Rochester, N.Y., and conducted post-graduate work in dentistry from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Education was always his first love, “But it was something I tried to get around acknowledging,” Bullock said.
Bullock returned to education through administrative and adjunct faculty posts at the Monroe Community College in New York and Tidewater Community College in Virginia before assuming the presidency at Schenectady, which has 8,200 students.
“In interviews, he came across as really committed to students,” said Mary Frances Archey, CCAC's vice president for student success and completion.
Although CCAC trustees planned to introduce finalists for the presidency at a series of public forums, and did so during other presidential searches, they changed their plans after settling on three finalists last month.
Kuntz said trustees were afraid candidates might withdraw if the board held public forums.
Narcisa Polonio, executive vice president of the Association of Community College Trustees in Washington, D.C., said presidential search practices vary, based on location and state laws.
“Pittsburgh is a major city and there is a lot of interest. With high visibility searches, if you want to hang onto candidates who are current presidents, sometimes you have to make accommodations,” Polonio added.
Debra Erdley is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach her at 412-320-7996 or derdley@tribweb.com.
