Dr. Frederico Talley takes over on July 1st.
A new president has been named for Frederick Community College. Dr. Frederico Talley will take over on July 1st, replacing Dr. Carol Eaton, who left last year to become president of Daytona State College. "I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a great experience for all of us," he says.
Dr. Talley was introduced to the college community and the media by the Board of Trustees during a news conference Thursday morning.
"Our board was very impressed with Dr. Talley's experience in higher education, his strong communication skills and interactions with the trustees and campus community, and his vision and goals for our campus' future," Dixie Miller, who chairs the Board, said in a statement.
Dr. Talley currently serves as vice president and dean at the College of Southern Maryland's Leonardtown campus.
He says what attracted him to FCC was its focus on student experience and learning. "It's also a school that has good programming regarding student success and retention. So students stick around a little longer and get their degrees a little faster here than in most schools. So that was very attractive to me as well," he says.
But Dr. Talley says FCC will still serve students who are coming to school to learn new skills they can use on the job, as well as the men and women who are heading to a four-year college.
Regarding FCC's future, Dr. Talley says one of the challenges he expects to face is how to handle the school's future growth. "We're landlocked here, as you know. As the college may be growing, and it may grow over the next two years, we have to grow somewhere. The question is do we do it here, or at the other remote sites," he says.
He also says he has a "walking around" style of management. "I want to see the people I'm working with," Dr. Talley says. "And know they have a chance to connect to get things to happen and build teams around the common goals we have as a college. It's going to be a collaborative style, I would say, and one that really engages as many people as possible in the enterprise the college has going forward."
Dr. Talley is the 8th president of FCC and the first African-American to head up the school.
While the Board of Trustees was looking for a new president, Vice President of Administration Doug Browning served as interim president. Browning says he's ready to get back to his old position. "It's been a great experience. I've loved it. But I'm looking to going back to VP for Administration. I'll be glad when Dr. Talley gets her on July One," he says.
