By Shelly Williams/editor-in-chief
Along with the naming of a new chancellor came the naming of two new vice chancellors for the Tarrant County College District.
Earlier this semester, Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley announced that Joy Gates Black would fill a new position in the district as vice chancellor of student success.
Mark McClendon also joined TCC’s executive leadership team as vice chancellor of finance.
Both vice chancellors started their positions in early March.
As TCC’s chief financial officer, he will head the departments of business services, finance, purchasing, risk management and financial aid.
“If you really consider what is the position of a CFO, it’s to bring good financial governance to an organization and help not only report information inside and outside, but help people who use the information to be able to make good financial decisions,” he said.
Before coming to TCC, McClendon was part of the corporate world. He handled employment, energy, construction and technology.
“I think one of the reasons the chancellor looked at me was because here at Tarrant County College, it’s not a small business,” he said.
McClendon compared the TCC district with a large business that still has room for growth.
“You have five campuses, multiple construction and renovations, and if you look at this as a growing concern, apart from the education you’re providing, you also have to provide that financial infrastructure to maintain an operation of this size,” he said. “This is where the private world looks at things differently than the corporate world.”
McClendon said it is good to look at things differently and at the same time learn the best of both areas. He said he hopes to accomplish a way to better prepare financially for TCC’s growth.
“I’d like to have the best financial reporting mechanism available and also be able to look at the future growth that this college will have,” he said. “As it grows, you still need to have that financial infrastructure and not only be able to report it but be able to handle that future growth.”
An Air Force veteran, Gates Black came from Eastfield College, where she served as vice president for student success and enrollment management.
“This is a new position here for the college,” she said. “In the past, the vice chancellor position had been kind of split between one person for the teaching and learning and the student success or support services side of the house.”
Black said that Hadley and members of the Chancellor’s Executive Leadership Team recognized that for TCC to make sure each area received the focus needed, the best option was to split the oversight into two separate positions.
“My position really covers all the success programs but all of the student services as well,” she said. “So my role as vice chancellor is to work collaboratively with the presidents to identify ways that we can help students to be successful on a district level.”
Black said she is looking forward to her new job.
“It’s exciting. It really is a compliment to the work that I have done throughout my career. Coming in, a lot of people have said, ‘Well, has it been hard?’ I said, ‘No, because it is such a great fit for me to really continue the work that I’ve been doing.’”
Black said she has worked only at a campus level, but impacting student success at a district level has been wonderful so far. She said she’s looking forward to meeting people on the campuses and hearing more about the district.