Montgomery College Administrator Named New President of Mott Community College

After a national search, Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, senior vice president for student services at Montgomery College, has been named president of Charles Stewart Mott Community College (MCC). Walker-Griffea will assume her new duties beginning August 27, 2014. MCC is a two-year college with an undergraduate enrollment of 10,500 located in Flint, Mich.

Montgomery College will appoint an interim senior vice president for student services.

“Although I’m filled with many mixed emotions, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate one of our esteemed senior vice presidents on her recent selection and appointment as the next president of Mott Community College,” said Dr. DeRionne Pollard, president of Montgomery College. “’Dr. Beverly’ has been a wonderful friend, colleague and a true visionary. She has been a creative and dynamic force in leading us to build and successfully integrate a vibrant and effective Student Services Division and many other important changes and initiatives that all serve to support our mission and vision.”

Walker-Griffea will be the first woman president, first African-American president and seventh president overall since Mott College became a county-wide community college in 1969.

Walker-Griffea joined Montgomery College in 2011 and worked tirelessly to enhance the “Common Student Experience,” an initiative that offers students a personalized and unique educational experience while providing similar collegewide services across all campuses. She was also instrumental in establishing the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program in conjunction with Montgomery County Public Schools and the Universities at Shady Grove.

She also played a major role in guiding the College’s implementation of the 2013 Maryland law affecting many aspects of what higher education institutions strive for, the College and Career Readiness and College Completion Act.

“As I enter this new journey, I am humbled and grateful when I think about the support, trust and commitment to student success that my Montgomery College colleagues have shared with me during my tenure,” Walker-Griffea said. “Working at Montgomery College has been a great opportunity that I will draw on frequently for success in my new role.”

Through her leadership, Montgomery College revitalized the student services organization into what has become a One College model. It is complete with collegewide deans who have a focus on students at every level—access, success, and engagement; new Welcome Centers at each campus to guide our students and help them connect with the College; a new collegewide student tracking system that supports counseling and advising¾one with great potential to support the academic enterprise.

“The board has been very pleased with Dr. Walker-Griffea’s leadership on student services at Montgomery College,” Board Chair Reginald M. Felton said. “She has been a vital part of Dr. Pollard’s leadership team and we will miss her. We know that Mott Community College is getting an excellent new president.”

Walker-Griffea has had a long career—from counselor to vice president and now president—dedicated to supporting students and providing the services they need to succeed. Prior to coming to Montgomery College, she served as vice president for student affairs at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia. She has also served as dean of student development at Houston Community College–Central Campus, and interim dean of health and environmental sciences at Spokane Community College. Additionally, while at Spokane Community College, Walker-Griffea worked as a counselor, led the nationally recognized American Association for Women in Community Colleges’ Model Program and The Single Parent Program, and served as the department chair for institutional diversity.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and broadcasting from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Virginia State University. She earned her doctorate in child development from Texas Woman’s University.

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Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 130 areas of study.

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