Kirkwood Community College promoted three staff members to new positions within the college, associated with the creation of new regional education centers. Kirkwood is creating regional centers as a way to better prepare high school and college students for their future, especially with high-demand, local careers. These centers will offer both high school and college-credit courses.
Mindy Thornton will be the director of the Kirkwood Regional Center – Linn County. Kristy Black will be the dean of Regional and County Centers, while continuing to serve as the Kirkwood Regional Center – Jones County director. Jon Weih will be the interim director of the Kirkwood Regional Center – Johnson County. He will continue to serve as the director of Student Services/Student Life at the Iowa City Campus.
Mindy Thornton has experience in various leadership roles at Kirkwood. She was hired in 2006 as the Benton County director and moved into a role as the Linn County Career Academy director. Thornton has worked with Linn County high schools since she started at the college in 2006. She earned her Master’s in Organizational Leadership from St. Ambrose University in July 2009 and graduated from Center Point-Urbana High School.
“I’m really looking forward to collaborating towards innovative solutions for our K-12 partners, our current Kirkwood students and our region,” said Thornton. “I’m excited about the opportunity to serve in this role, and build upon the strong foundation of our existing programs, while also exploring ways that we can ensure that our students locally, will be competitive globally.”
Kristy Black has been with Kirkwood for 19 years. She started in Jones County as the center assistant, becoming the director in 1998. In January of 2002 she also became the director of the Cedar County Center. Black earned her Master’s in Higher Education from Iowa State University. She lives in Monticello, where she grew up and graduated from high school.
Black said she’s excited about working with the college’s many different internal departments, as well as external partners. “I am looking forward to working with local high school and industry partners to continue to develop new and innovative ways to serve high school students to make their experience more relevant and to better prepare them for their transition to college and career,” said Black.
Jon Weih, a 23 year Kirkwood veteran, will take on his eighth position with the college, as the Kirkwood Regional Center – Johnson County interim director. Weih earned his Master’s of Communications Training Technology from the University of Northern Iowa in 1988. He lives in North Liberty with his wife Cherrie (a Kirkwood employee) and four daughters (one of which is a Kirkwood student). He graduated from Tipton High School in 1982.
Weih said he is excited about embarking on this new Kirkwood project. “I’m looking forward to working with our school districts on an explorative level, while enhancing great partnering opportunities between our secondary schools, Kirkwood Community College and the University of Iowa. I believe that the educational opportunities we expand together could create a model that expands beyond Johnson County and the state of Iowa. It’s exciting!”
Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said these hires are the right hires for the college.
“Mindy Thornton’s work with the high schools in Linn County over the past few years makes her a natural transition into this new leadership role,” said Starcevich. “She understands what it takes to run a county center, and she has such a deep knowledge of our high school offerings. High schools sending students to the Kirkwood Regional Center – Linn County are fortunate to work with somebody like Mindy.”
“Kristy Black helped spearhead the college with our first regional center, the Kirkwood Regional Center – Jones County. With her leadership, the program grew into the model of how we want our regional centers to be,” said Starcevich. “Kristy has such a deep understanding of the needs in local communities, and how training students the right way, can help sustain the future economies in our area.”
“Jon Weih is such a student-focused employee. He has a way of connecting with students, on their level, and helping them accomplish their goals,” said Starcevich. “Having Jon work with the local high schools and their students in the Johnson County area will be a great benefit to Kirkwood, and those he works with.”
The Kirkwood Regional Center – Linn County facility was recently purchased from Transamerica for $5.7 million. The college will renovate this facility, with hopes of starting programming this fall. The Kirkwood Regional Center – Johnson County will be built on the University of Iowa’s Oakdale Campus, with a possible opening date of Fall 2014. The college is also moving forward on the Kirkwood Regional Center – Washington County, with plans for construction to begin in 2013. These centers were made possible when voters overwhelmingly supported the college’s bond issue in September, 2011.