Katherine Ladd - RH Perry

Montgomery County Community College Names Dr. Victoria L. Bastecki-Perez as President

Upon completion of a nationwide search, Montgomery County Community College’s (MCCC) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Dr. Victoria L. Bastecki-Perez has been selected to serve as the College’s sixth President. She has signed a three-year contract, and she will begin her tenure immediately starting May 18.

“We are confident that Dr. Bastecki-Perez’s strong leadership and unwavering dedication to the success of our students will continue to propel Montgomery County Community College as a national leading institution in higher education, a key community partner and an invaluable resource for all County residents. Her performance as Interim President, especially during the current Covid-19 crisis, only served to confirm that the Board was choosing the right person to lead the College today and into the future,” said Board Chair Frank X. Custer.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Bastecki-Perez has dedicated her professional pursuits to helping students achieve their dreams of higher education, including access to college, retention, completion, and family-sustainable wage employment.

“It is a great honor and privilege to be selected as the sixth president of Montgomery County Community College,” said Dr. Bastecki-Perez. “The College has a long history of providing quality, relevant educational experiences for all students, and I look forward to continuing to work together with our exceptional faculty, staff and administrators, the Board of Trustees and community partners to advance the College and help our students realize their dreams, which will further strengthen our communities and economy.”

While Dr. Bastecki-Perez served as Interim President, MCCC earned the prestigious Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction award, a national recognition for its work in narrowing equity gaps and improving student outcomes. Additionally, MCCC was named one of the Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges for the fifth consecutive year. This national recognition salutes community and technical colleges that cultivate diverse, inclusive and supportive workplaces and learning environments. Under her leadership, MCCC also was recognized as an inaugural PNGAS Guard-Friendly School for its support of students in the National Guard, an All-In Gold Campus for outstanding student voter engagement, a national Bellwether Award finalist in the categorical strand for Planning, Governance, and Finance, and a Forbes’ ranking as a top employer, among other prestigious awards and designations.

In her role as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost starting in 2010, Dr. Bastecki-Perez provided leadership and strategic direction for the College’s five academic divisions, libraries, academic support services and signature programs including the Virtual Campus, University Center, Culinary Arts Institute, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Honors Program, Lively Arts, Galleries and Center for Faculty Success.

Dr. Bastecki-Perez also served as the College’s Accreditation Liaison Officer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and she is the primary member on the Transfer Oversight Articulation Committee and is actively involved on several educational advisory and regional workforce boards, including as a member of the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County Workforce Development Board, MontcoWorks.

Dr. Bastecki-Perez previously held the positions of Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs (2006-2010), Dean of Health and Physical Education (2000-2006), and Director and Professor of Dental Hygiene (1996-2003) at the College. Before joining MCCC in 1996, she was an award-winning faculty member and Senior Clinical Supervisor at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine for nine years.

As a first-generation college graduate, Dr. Bastecki-Perez holds an Ed.D. and M.Ed. in Instructional Design and Technology from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. in Education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She began her graduate coursework at Exeter College, Oxford University through the Edinboro-Oxford Experience study abroad program. She was recognized as a Distinguished Alumna by Edinboro University and by the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine.

https://www.mc3.edu/news/2020/05/mccc-president-victoria-bastecki-perez

Manhattan College Names Steven Schreiner as Provost

Steven Schreiner, Ph.D., P.E., will be Manhattan College’s next provost and vice president of academic affairs, effective July 6.

Schreiner will join Manhattan College from The College of New Jersey, where he has served as Dean of the School of Engineering since 2008.

“Steven Schreiner brings to Manhattan an extensive record of accomplishment as an educator and administrator,” said Dr. Brennan O’Donnell, president of Manhattan College. “He has a deep understanding of the ways in which liberal arts education and professional preparation complement one another, and a demonstrated ability to lead strategically in a complex environment.”

During his academic career, Schreiner developed several new and accelerated academic programs in his roles as dean and department chair. Working closely with TCNJ’s School of Education, he oversaw the creation of a new Master’s of Education in integrative-STEM for in-service teachers that utilizes online and blended modalities. In consultation with TCNJ’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, his team also created a public policy option within the undergraduate engineering science degree program that offers interested students the opportunity to combine political science and engineering while gaining internship experience through a partnership with The Washington Center. At Western New England University, he collaborated with both the business and law schools developing accelerated graduate degrees.

Schreiner spearheaded the development of new facilities including a 76,000-square foot STEM building. He also oversaw design for major renovations of laboratory, classroom, and support spaces at both TCNJ and Western New England University, where he was founding chair of biomedical engineering, and chair of the engineering undergraduate admissions committee from 2001 to 2008.

“I am honored to have been chosen as the next provost and vice president for academic affairs for Manhattan College,” Schreiner said. “The college’s focus on academic excellence founded in the Lasallian tradition creates an authentic educational environment where the search for truth is unfettered. I am impressed with Manhattan College’s mission and culture, and am looking forward to joining and contributing to this welcoming community.”

At TCNJ, Schreiner supported a National Science Foundation Advance Grant aimed at increasing the participation and advancement of women in academic careers in science and engineering. And as part of his role in the college-wide governance system, he helped lead the development of family-friendly tenure policies that included benefits for those who take maternity and paternity leave.

During Schreiner’s time at TCNJ, annual donations to the School of Engineering increased by more than 60% and applications increased by more than 80%. Schreiner prioritized undergraduate research and scholarship as a strategic priority, and led a task force of corporate and faculty advisors creating proper incentives and intellectual property policies that encouraged industry-college partnerships and research contracts.

At TCNJ, Schreiner oversaw an increase in international and study-abroad participation, including lowering barriers through curriculum integration. An accomplished grant writer, Schreiner facilitated increased grant writing among the TCNJ faculty in his school, moving from sporadic grant activity to an average of 20 submissions annually, totaling $15 million in the previous five years. He also secured resources for strategic initiatives and asset renewal, and oversaw development of 10 newly endowed scholarships.

Schreiner is a nationally and internationally recognized accreditation expert, serving as a commissioner and member of the executive committee of the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. He has also served on advisory boards at Clemson University and Vanderbilt University.

Schreiner received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Western New England University, and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University. He was also a National Institute of Health post-doctoral researcher in radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.