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EGCC picks Texas educator as new president
By Denise Dick
youngstown
Eastern Gateway Community College’s next president plans to spend his first weeks in office learning the campuses, people and communities.
Jimmie Bruce, 50, vice president for academic success at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas, begins his duties at EGCC on July 13.
Laura Meeks, president for 15 years, is retiring that same month.
“I think my first thing will be to get to know the people at the college, make sure I get to know the communities and get in touch with where students are and how they’re doing,” he said.
A native of Kentucky, Bruce has worked at community colleges for 25 years.
“I’m very excited about coming to Eastern Gateway, and I think there’s so much potential for great things to happen,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with everyone to strengthen what’s already going on at the college.”
Bruce was one of four finalists for the EGCC job.
“It was a very, very difficult decision,” said John Gilmore, chairman of EGCC trustees. “We had four excellent candidates we were debating over.”
Bruce will earn $155,000 annually under terms of the three-year contract. Meeks’ salary is $143,000.
Gilmore said the market value for a president of a college such as Eastern Gateway justifies the higher salary.
Meeks had foregone pay increases three times, he said.
The board chairman said feedback from the public forums, finalist interviews with the board and input gathered by visiting the college where Bruce works played into the board’s selecting him for the job.
EGCC is smaller than Northwest Vista, but it’s poised for growth, Bruce said. Several years ago, Northwest Vista realized rapid growth, increasing from about 5,000 students to 16,000.
“I see the same kind of potential at Eastern Gateway,” although it may not grow to that size, Bruce said.
EGCC has more of a diversity of programs than the college where he works, which mostly serves students planning to transfer to a university, he said. EGCC serves students with that goal, too, but many seeking workforce training and certifications also enroll.
Both institutions share the goal of serving at-risk and underprivileged students, providing opportunities for access for them, Bruce said.
The opening at EGCC appealed to Bruce because he’s familiar with this part of the country and also because of Meeks’ track record.
“The college has had strong leadership for the last several years,” Bruce said. “When you see a long-standing president and exciting things going on, expanding its service area — those are the kinds of signs that something is going right.”
He previously served as dean of student success and chief student-affairs officer at Northwest Vista and also worked at a Kentucky community college.
Bruce 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.
He and his wife expect to return to the area in May to begin searching for their new home, and Bruce says he’s ready for Ohio winters.
“In a lot of ways, it will be great to be back in an area geographically where there are four seasons,” Bruce said. “In south Texas, we have one or two days of spring and one or two days of fall, and then it’s just hot.”