Photo Courtesy of TCCD
Jan Clayton, who has served as interim president of NE Campus since November 2023, will transition into the role of district vice chancellor of analytics and planning at the end of this semester.
The NE interim president position will be filled by Kirsten Jakowitsch, former dean of technology, health, and business and interim vice president for academic affairs.
Clayton hosts student and faculty listening sessions throughout the semester and at the last April 18 faculty meeting, Clayton got choked up reflecting on her time as interim president and the support she received.
“Give me one second,” she said to the large crowd of faculty who came out to participate during their workday despite a forecast of rain.
“It’s certainly been the professional privilege in my career to get to have this particular role and get to do this work and get to do it with you, but what really has been amazing is just to see the way that you all show up for students,” she said.
Clayton went on to acknowledge how she and employees do what they can for their students and their success.
“It was really about students, always, and I love that we could just share that with each other,” she said. “We did it different ways. It looked different, but at its core, that’s what it was about. I just want you to know, I see you. I see how hard you worked.”
According to a statement released by Chancellor Elva LeBlanc, Clayton’s new role will involve “strategic oversight for grants compliance, accreditation, and institutional research.”
Cara Walker, director of student development services, has seen Clayton as a mentor and said she has brought a lot of transparency in her leadership role through hosting events like listening sessions.
“She really had an ear to what’s going on on campus and really addressing what the needs were for her campus,” Walker said.
PTK officer Marie Claude Mutomb, a student Clayton has worked with on campus projects, laughed while recalling a moment when Clayton came and sat next to her and thanked her afterward.
“I’m like, ‘You’re the campus president. You can walk anywhere and sit anywhere and nobody’s going to say anything,’ but I feel like she really cares about the students,” Mutomb said.
Clayton will be working together with Jakowitsch to facilitate the transition starting May 2 and will move into her new role as vice chancellor of analytics and planning on May 19.
An email was sent out on April 8 regarding a forum set to take place on April 15 to allow faculty to provide feedback for the chancellor in selecting a new permanent NE Campus president from two finalists.
However, the forum was cancelled on April 9.
According to an email sent by LeBlanc on April 17, the search for a new president is ongoing.