As the 6th president of SCC, Dr. Don Tomas describes his leadership style as “open, honest, and there is an element of try to keep up with me because I have high expectations; along with high expectations come accountability, and I don't hold anyone more accountable than I hold myself accountable.”

Tomas joins the SCC family from Weatherford, Texas where he served as vice president of instruction at Weatherford College. Tomas chose SCC because he recognizes its sterling reputation as well as its potential for growth. Weatherford College and SCC has several similarities; Weatherford is a 2-year community college serving a four-county region in a rural area of the state.

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Southwestern Community College has been rated “exceptional” by the NC Community College System. Southwestern is one of 12 of the state’s 58 community colleges to receive this prestigious ranking.

Mandated by the General Assembly, the ranking is the NC Community College System’s method of tracking the performance of the state’s community colleges. The report is based on eight performance measures: progress of basic skills of students, passing rates on licensure and certification examinations, performance of college transfer students, passing rates of students in developmental courses, success rates of developmental students in subsequent college-level courses, satisfaction of program completers and non-completers, curriculum student retention, and client satisfaction with customized training.

When the search began in November for a candidate to replace Chancellor John W. Bardo after his 16 years of service to Western Carolina University, the UNC system president, Tom Ross, had one simple request for the search committee—find a “superhero.”

Dr. David Belcher may not be able to see through walls or have superhuman strengths that leave him invincible, but he does have some superpowers to bring to WCU.

MedWest Health System is sponsoring a series of events to introduce the new chancellor, Dr. David Belcher, and his wife, Susan to Western North Carolina.

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Macon County Schools stand to lose if federal forest land act expires

Macon County schools, along with many other school districts in counties around the country that have substantial federal lands within their boundaries, stand to lose crucial revenue if a federal act is allowed to expire at the end of the year. Next week, the district will host a meeting of officials from school districts all around the region to inform them of the potential loss of funds if the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act is left to expire.

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