Middlesex County College (MCC) has appointed Mark McCormick as the seventh president of the college after he served for the past nine months as the interim president.
“We are very pleased that Mark will be leading our institution into the future,” Board Chairman Dorothy K. Power said in a statement provided by MCC. “Under his leadership, we have made significant advancements. He has an extensive background in higher education along with a solid vision and strong leadership and communication skills. We are thrilled that he will be our president.”
He replaced Joann La Perla-Morales, who served as the college’s sixth president for 13 years before retiring in June of 2018.
Prior to serving as interim president at the college located in Edison, McCormick served as vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at MCC for five years. He has more than 30 years of experience at two-year colleges and has an extensive record of achievement. In collaboration with faculty and staff, he has led successful initiatives to improve student outcomes in the areas of retention and completion at every institution he has served, according to the statement.
McCormick has directed the development of 24 new degree programs – eight of them at Middlesex – in high-demand fields such as Exercise Science, Game Design and Sustainable Energy.
“I’m tremendously honored,” McCormick said after the Board voted to appoint him at the April 2 meeting, according to the statement. “We’ve made tremendous strides over the past nine months. We’ve got more work to do – and I take that quite seriously; it’s a big job. And I can’t do it alone, so I look to partner with you. We have to keep working together smartly and keep thinking about our students. I look forward to continuing the work we do. I’m up for the challenge and I appreciate the honor.”
As vice president and interim president at MCC, McCormick supported the faculty in a major revision of the English as a Second Language Program; established a new one-stop student services center incorporating admissions, registration, advisement, financial aid, veterans services and student accounts; and he spearheaded adoption of open educational resources, providing free texts and other materials to students, according to the statement.
He also championed the creation of a student food pantry.
He served as a faculty member at Peirce College and the Community College of Philadelphia for 18 years before moving into academic administration in 2004. He was dean of Business and Technology and acting vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Mercer County Community College and dean of Academic Affairs and vice president for Academic Services at Salem Community College. He was appointed vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Middlesex in August 2014 and then interim president in July 2018, according to the statement.
“Mark has a strong focus on helping students, and ensuring they have every opportunity for success,” Power said in the statement. “He has significant experience in curriculum development, assessment and accreditation. He is a very effective communicator who believes in transparency and seeks to foster a sense of community among students, faculty, staff and external stakeholders. I think he’s going to be an incredibly effective president.”
McCormick holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from Davidson College, a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law, and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania, according to the statement.