Three finalists for TVC director named, community forums set

Submitted by Scott McCrea
Phone: (907) 455-2857
04/28/05

Three finalists have been named for the position of director at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus. The finalists are Joanna Blount, associate dean of collegiate and professional technical education at Southwestern Oregon Community College in North Bend, Ore.; Richard Caulfield, interim director of the Tanana Valley Campus; and John Nelson, former dean of workforce education at Galveston College in Galveston, Texas.

Prior to her current position at Southwestern, Blount served as dean of student services and registrar. She previously served as director of counseling, testing and advising services at Clovis Community College in New Mexico, and has held several student services positions at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Blount earned her doctorate in community college leadership from Oregon State University and her master’s degree in counseling and educational psychology at Slippery Rock University. A former director of the career placement and job center at the Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer, Blount also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Caulfield has been serving as TVC’s interim director since September 2004. Prior to that, he served as a professor of rural development and associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Rural Alaska. Caulfield began teaching with UAF in 1985, and has taught at the Fairbanks campus and rural campuses. He earned his master’s degree in education from UAF and his doctorate in developmental studies from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. A 30-year resident of Alaska, Caulfield has written several books and numerous articles on arctic resources management and community development.

Nelson currently works as a higher education consultant in Galveston, Texas. Prior to Galveston College he served as dean of the technology division and technology center campus administrator at South Texas College in McAllen, Texas, director of automotive and diesel education programs at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa and division director for business and industry at technology programs at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He earned his master’s degree in industrial education and his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from the College of Engineering at Utah State University.

The UAF and Fairbanks community will have a chance to meet with each candidate at the Tanana Valley Campus Center at 604 Barnette Street:

• Tuesday, May 3: Community forum with Rick Caulfield, 5:15-6:15 p.m. in Room 119
• Thursday, May 5: Community forum with John Nelson, 5:15-6:15 p.m. in Room 119
• Monday, May 9: Community forum with Joanna Blount, 5:15-6:15 p.m. in Room 119

TVC is one of several campuses in the state administered by UAF’s College of Rural Alaska. TVC provides general education, vocational and technical training at the certificate and associate degree levels and has a student body of more than 3,000 students. TVC’s main campus is located in the Tanana Valley Campus Center at 604 Barnette Street TVC are also located in the TVC Downtown Center at 510 Second Avenue, the Hutchison Institute of Technology at 3750 Geist Road, University Park at 1000 University Avenue and the Bunnell House Early Childhood Lab School at 703 Chatanika Drive.