Four finalists for the next Bay College president

ESCANABA — The Bay College Board of Trustees has approved four finalists in the national search for the college’s next president to replace Dr. Laura Coleman, who will retire on June 30. The candidates are:

– Dr. Lawrence D. Brandyburg, most recently interim president of Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama.

– Dr. Tony D. Hawkins, most recently provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, continuing education, and workforce development at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland (on sabbatical spring 2023).

– Dr. Nerita Hughes, interim associate vice president of academic affairs and workforce innovation at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and the president/CEO of JG Consulting, LLC.

– Dr. Ross Peterson-Veatch, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, and professor of folklore at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

The finalists will participate in a full day of interviews, tours, and meetings with the campus community on April 24, 25, 26 and 27. The public is invited to sit in on the interviews with the board of trustees in the Besse Theater and ask questions following each interview. An opportunity to meet the finalists at the west campus will also be available to the public. Anyone who attends will be encouraged to complete an online feedback survey for each candidate. The schedules for public participation are available at www.baycollege.edu/president.

Dr. Lawrence D. Brandyburg

Dr. Lawrence D. Brandyburg possesses over 27 years of experience in higher education. Most recently, Dr. Brandyburg served as interim president of Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama. Dr. Brandyburg began his higher education career at Lone Star College System in Houston, Texas, serving more than 80,000 students annually. He has served in various leadership roles within the instructional, student success, and student support divisions. Dr. Brandyburg was the founding Vice President of Instruction & Student Success at Lone Star College-University Park in 2012 and has also led internationally as CEO of Lone Star College-Jakarta.

As CEO of Lone Star College Jakarta, he ran Indonesia’s first SACSCOC-certified community college. Dr. Brandyburg spearheaded student success and Associate of Arts degree completion for more than 300 Indonesian students in addition to starting the country’s first Early College High School.

Dr. Brandyburg has been enthusiastic about the area of student success throughout his career. While serving as dean of instruction for math and teacher education at Lone Star College-Montgomery, he led the math division in implementing the college’s first module math program, which helped expedite the success and completion of three developmental math courses in one semester. Dr. Brandyburg’s advocacy for student success helped develop Math Success Labs at two Lone Star College campuses.

Dr. Brandyburg earned an associate of arts from Blinn College, a bachelor of arts in history, and a master of arts in sociology from Prairie View A&M University. He earned a doctor of philosophy in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin’s Community College Leadership Program. Dr. Brandyburg is married to his wife Jerrolyn of 38 years. They have two daughters and a son.

Dr. Tony D. Hawkins

Tony D. Hawkins, Ph.D. served for eight years as the provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, continuing education, and workforce development at Frederick Community College in Maryland. Prior to assuming this assignment he was the collegewide dean of humanities at Montgomery College (MD) with oversight of a division that included course offerings in history, political science, world languages, philosophy, American Sign Language, women’s and gender studies and two learning centers. He has performed other administrative assignments as a campus dean of art, humanities, and social sciences at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College and associate dean of English and Humanities at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, NJ. Dr. Hawkins held the faculty rank of associate professor of speech communication and theater at Prince George’s Community College (MD), teaching courses in human communication, theater, and radio, television, and film production.

Born and raised in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Dr. Hawkins earned his bachelor’s degree from Towson State University, master’s from University of Georgia, certificate of advanced study from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, and Ph.D. in educational leadership from New York University.

Dr. Hawkins has implemented academic master plans, strategic plans, innovative curricular (guided) pathways and umbrella majors, numerous policies and procedures, and high-school-based dual enrollment and campus-based early/middle college programs in Frederick County and Jersey City. His research interests include exploring the relationships between community colleges and their secondary school partners, issues of access and equity, and the impact of education policy on urban community colleges. He has presented on access and achievement gaps of underrepresented students, recruiting, hiring and retaining faculty and staff of color, and classroom assessment practices. He is also a certified workshop leader in Facilitative Leadership by Interactive Associates.

Tony is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges, served on the boards of the BlackRock Center for the Arts and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and has chaired the Maryland Council of Community College Chief Academic Officers (M4CAOs). He is a recipient of the 1999 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award from the American Association for Higher Education and the 2013 On Their Shoulders We Stand Award from Montgomery College. He is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association with numerous theatrical productions to his credit.

Dr. Nerita Hughes

Dr. Nerita is the interim associate vice president of academic affairs and workforce innovation at North Hennepin Community College. In addition, she is the president/chief executive officer of JG Consulting, LLC which she has a variety of expertise which ranges from public and private sector to higher education. She displays exceptional leadership, organizational development, time management skills, enhanced knowledge of implementing and identifying training needs, and succession planning.

She holds a bachelor of science from National American University, a masters of business administration, and a doctorate of education in leadership both of which are from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

She has acquired knowledge in the areas of training and staff development, leadership development, racial equity, and other multi-faceted activities in the business and governmental realm. She has a special interest in strengths-based development, cultural competency development, intercultural development inventory (IDI) qualifying administrator and entrepreneurship, where she assists individuals with leveraging and maximizing their innate talents in order to develop their strengths. She is a former adjunct instructor for the human resources program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and business and careers programs for Minnesota State which allows her to demonstrate and teach racial equity with education. In addition, within her roles she has been instrumental in working with public and private sector leadership teams in order to embed and develop racial equity practices for the constituents they serve.

She currently serves on the board of directors for and serve as a member of: Hennepin-Carver Workforce Innovation Board (board member-postsecondary representative), AchieveMpls (board member), African-American Leadership Forum (co-chair),Governor’s Workforce Development Board (board member-Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) representative), Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches (board member), Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage (council chair), ConnextMSP Coalition (partner network member), Center for Economic Inclusion (policy committee-chair), Northside Job Creation Team (workforce development co-chair), National Forum for Black Public Administrators- Minneapolis Metropolitan Area Chapter (former board vice president),University of Minnesota, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Program (Board member), Kingdom Life (Leadership Team), North Hennepin Community College (College Leadership Team, Strategic Direction Task Team-Community Partnership), Academic Affairs Council (chair), All Learning Counts (member), and Academic and Student Affairs Coordinating Commission (member).

Lastly, she is a 2015 James P. Shannon Leadership Institute Fellow, 2019 Lakin Fellow, 2019 Young American Leaders Program (YALP) cohort, 2022 AACC Future Presidents Institute Fellow and continues to serve on other informal community networks that have an economic/workforce development component or an education attainment focus. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Dr. Ross Peterson-Veatch

Dr. Ross Peterson-Veatch is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, and professor of folklore at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. In his administrative role, he has been responsible for providing leadership and oversight for all academic programs and departments including Southwestern’s traditional campus in Winfield and additional locations that deliver adult and graduate programs. Southwestern College is a private, liberal arts college associated with the Methodist Church (UMC) classified as a “master’s-mixed” institution. At Southwestern he has focused on hiring a diverse faculty, and on building new programs for assessment, faculty development, and program review.

Before coming to Southwestern in 2017, Dr. Peterson-Veatch served in various administrative roles at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. He ended his time there as interim vice president for academic affairs. Previously at Goshen, he served as associate vice president for academic affairs and before that as associate academic dean and director of curriculum, teaching and faculty development at Goshen’s Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL). He also remained in the classroom to teach in the MA in Intercultural Leadership program at Goshen. As associate VP, he worked to add new adult and graduate programs to Goshen’s curriculum. As associate dean, he oversaw the General Education program at Goshen including the First Year program, academic advising and the Registrar’s Office. As a director with CITL, he led the revision of general education, the creation of the First Year program, and supported assessment and curriculum development for departments and faculty at Goshen.

Prior to coming to Goshen in 2007, Dr. Peterson-Veatch served Indiana University Bloomington’s (IUB) Kelley School of Business as instructional consultant focused on improvement of classroom teaching practice. He was also a faculty member at IUB in the Liberal Arts and Management Program, and has held faculty appointments at Earlham College, Goucher College, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

In 2021 Dr. Peterson-Veatch was selected by the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD) as the winner of their annual Excellence in Academic Leadership Award. He is a current member of ACAD. He has been involved in college pedagogy initiatives since 1992 and served on the program committee for the 2009 Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He is a lifetime member of the American Folklore Society, and has served on program committees for the 2020 and 2022 annual meeting committees. He has held membership in the International Leadership Association, the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education.

Dr. Peterson-Veatch received his bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in Spanish and sociology/anthropology and holds master’s and doctorate degrees in Folklore from Indiana University, Bloomington. He has published various articles and book chapters on academic administration and professional learning communities, and his academic interests include leadership studies, folklore, history of ethnography and colonial Latin American literature. He is an avid fly-fisherman, fly-tier, and woodcarver, and when he is not playing guitar and mandolin, he loves to spend time canoeing and camping with his wife and two sons.