By Sana Cole
The Scene staff
President Cindy Hess is leaving Forest Park.
She has accepted the position of associate dean of communications at Tulsa Community College’s Southeast Campus in Tulsa, Okla. Her last day is May 13.
“I’m looking to be within an hour of most of my family and being in a role that’s more closely connected to faculty and students,” she said.
Hess formerly worked at Tulsa for 10 years, so she’s already familiar with the college and staff.
“It feels like I’m going home,” she said.
Hess, 54, has served as Forest Park president for 3½ years.
“I hate to see her leave, but I understand,” said her boss, Interim Chancellor Dennis Michaelis. “I know she’ll do very well. I think she’s made a lot of contributions to St. Louis Community College, particularly the Forest Park campus. She’s an educational leader.”
Roderick Nunn, the district’s vice chancellor for economic development and workforce solutions, will take over Hess’s job.
Nunn, 45, has been working for St. Louis Community College since 2008. He oversees the Corporate College, Workforce Solutions and the Continuing Education division.
“I am excited to lead Forest Park as interim president,” he said. “As a first-generation college student, I have faced many of the same obstacles our students face.”
Nunn formerly directed public workforce systems for three governors in Missouri and Illinois.
He holds a doctorate degree in management from University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, Md., a master’s in public administration from University of Illinois at Springfield and a bachelor’s from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Michaelis said he believed Nunn was the best candidate for the job.
“Dr. Nunn was a stand-out,” Michaelis said. “To me, he was a fairly obvious choice.”
Nunn and his wife, Ramona, have two sons, Joshua, 14, and Judah, 11. Ramona works in human services.
The college has no immediate plans to start searching for a new president.
“We’ll see how it goes for some time and evaluate if we’ll start a search,” Michaelis said. “We’ll see how it goes for the next several months.”
Hess came to Forest Park from Craven Community College in eastern North Carolina, where she served as executive vice president and chief academic officer. She held academic leadership positions at Tulsa Community College.
Hess also taught developmental writing and composition at community colleges and graduate courses in higher education administration at universities.
She predicts Nunn will easily fit into the role of interim president.
“I think (he) will pick up and do a good job to make sure things happen,” she said.
Photography major De Anna Michelle Anderson, 34, said she understands why someone like Hess would want to be closer to family or just do something different to find happiness.
Anderson also shared her thoughts on Nunn.
“I hope this president listens to the students and finds a way to balance out what we need and what we want in a learning environment that competes with the universities,” she said.
Art education major P.J. Weakly, 21, plans to meet Nunn and ask him about his ideas for Forest Park. She regrets not getting the opportunity to communicate with Hess.
“I wish I would have had a chance to know her better and where she thinks the college should be going,” Weakly said.
Nunn doesn’t have any immediate plans to make big changes. He wants to spend time getting to know students, faculty and staff.
He said he’s excited about moving away from workforce education and training programs and being an integral part of college life.
“While being on campus will have its challenges, it will be very rewarding because of the opportunity to interact with students, faculty and staff,” Nunn said.
Hess said she’s pleased with accomplishments during her presidency, including the Student Center renovation, centralization of an academic support center in the library’s lower level, addition of staff on campus and work with faculty to make changes in academic affairs.
“We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go to serve students properly,” she said. “I think the interim will pick up and will do a good job in making sure these things happen.”
Hess said she’s excited about working closer with students and faculty in her new position, but she will miss St. Louis.
“I will miss the culture and arts,” she said. “My husband and I love riding our bikes through Forest Park. And I’ll miss the people most of all that I’ve connected with to meet a common goal.”