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Jimmie Bruce begins EGCC tenure
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Monday begins a new era at Eastern Gateway Community College.
It’s President Jimmie Bruce’s first day on the job.
“The first thing is to meet with my staff – I have some meetings set up with each one of them – and talk with them about what they think the pressing issues are and pick it up from there,” Bruce said.
The incoming president will start meeting people and getting acclimated to the office and the college, he said.
“The goal in the first couple of months is to start to meet people in Steubenville and Youngstown and Warren at the college as well as the community,” he said. “Of course, I want to talk to the folks at YSU. I want to make as many contacts as I can. A community college is there for the people of the community, so I want to reach out to the community partners to see if we can better serve the area that we’re charged to serve.”
College trustees in March selected Bruce, formerly vice president for academic success at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas, to succeed Laura Meeks.
Meeks, who retires July 31, served as the college’s president for 15 years, overseeing the expansion from Jefferson County into Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
John Gilmore, chairman of the college’s trustees, said both Meeks and Bruce will be on the payroll for a short time.
“She’s going to come back and do some work,” he said. “But she won’t interfere with Dr. Bruce’s responsibilities. I’m sure there will be assistance by Dr. Meeks as Dr. Bruce requests.”
Bruce will earn $155,000 annually; Meeks’ yearly salary is $143,000.
“One of the challenges is to make sure we have the technology that we need to compete and to meet students’ needs,” Bruce said. “That’s a concern in a lot of places: to make sure technology is there. I’d like to see enrollment increase and to have more students – both students coming out of high school as well as adult learners in the community. There’s the potential to reach a lot more students than we currently are.”
Bruce will live in Wintersville, Ohio, near Steubenville.
Bruce, 50, a Kentucky native, previously served as dean of student success and chief student-affairs officer at Northwest Vista and also worked at a Kentucky community college. He earned his doctorate of education in educational leadership at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Texas; a master’s degree in organizational communication and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky.