New Leadership at SWCC

Taken from the 2023-24 SWCC Mag
By Terri Higgins, SWCC director of marketing and enrollment management

The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of trustees, during its regular monthly meeting, held on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, at 5:30 p.m., in the college’s Administration Center, unanimously approved a motion offering a President’s Chapter 279 Administrator Contract to Lindsay Stoaks of Lenox, making her the sixth president since SWCC’s inception in 1966.

Stoaks had been serving as SWCC’s interim president since May 2023. She was appointed to the role of interim president by Southwestern’s board following the departure of Dr. Marjorie McGuire-Welch in May 2023. Prior to this appointment, Stoaks served as SWCC’s vice president of instruction, directing all matters related to academic instruction, programs, services, and operations.

Stoaks has been employed at Southwestern since May 2010 when she was hired as the coordinator of secondary programs. She became the college’s assistant vice president of instruction, under the direction of longtime Southwestern Vice President of Instruction Bill Taylor, in July 2013. Taylor and Stoaks worked hand-in-hand directing the daily functions of the instructional division of the college until Taylor’s untimely passing on Nov. 7, 2019, following a sudden battle with pancreatic cancer, at which time Stoaks moved into the vice president role.

Since November 2014, Stoaks has served as a Higher Learning Commission (HLC) assurance co-coordinator for the college’s accreditation process. In addition, she has assisted in guiding the college’s Iowa Department of Education accreditation. She completed leadership training through the Community College Leadership Initiative Consortium (CLIC) at Iowa State during the 2011-12 academic year.

Stoaks holds a Master of Science degree in agricultural education and studies, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University.

Stoaks and her husband, Shane, are active in the Lenox community and volunteer with many school and recreational activities for their three children.

After signing her presidential contract, Stoaks hit the ground running at the college. Stoaks, who had initiated conversations regarding the master facilities planning process during her time as interim president, rallied her administrative cabinet and quickly embarked on the update of the college’s 10-year master facilities plan, last updated in 2012, with INVISION Architecture of Des Moines. The intent of a master facilities plan is to evaluate the near and mid-term opportunities and challenges of the college facilities and provide an incremental, flexible framework that informs future campus facility and grounds development. The goal is to have the master facilities plan complete to unveil to employees in early-2024.

Stoaks is supported in her daily endeavors by the following individuals who make up the college’s administrative cabinet:

• Lana Bartmess of Clarinda, director of human resources and equity/Title IX coordinator—Bartmess, originally from Jewell, started at the college in March 2021. Bartmess worked as the director of human resources at Clarinda Academy for 25 years, prior to the school closing its doors in 2021.
• Kim Bishop of Mount Ayr, dean of student services/deputy Title IX coordinator/athletic director—Bishop became SWCC’s dean, providing supervision to the student services division of the college, in July 2019. She is currently acting as the college’s athletic director as well. Prior to SWCC, she had been in the athletics department at the University of Missouri in Columbia for 17 years.
• Dr. John Franklin of Creston, interim vice president of instruction—Franklin came to SWCC as assistant vice president of instruction in July 2020 from Graceland University, where he had been employed for 19 years. In his role at Graceland he was a professor of history and advised students and participated in assessment projects. During the November 2023 board meeting, Franklin’s appointment as interim vice president of instruction was extended through June 2024. In his current role, Franklin oversees the instructional division of the college.
• Wayne Pantini of Creston, vice president of economic development—Pantini, originally from the Marion area, became the assistant vice president of economic development, overseeing Business & Community Development, as well as plant services and the centers at SWCC, in June 2022. In January 2023, he became the vice president of economic development. Prior to SWCC, Pantini was the director of the Union County Development Association (UCDA) in Creston for almost 18 years.
• Brandi Shay of Tingley, chief financial officer—Shay, who oversees the business office, came to SWCC in June 2023. Most recently, Shay had been a business analyst for United Farmers Cooperative. She previously worked at SWCC, 2001-2011 and 2015-2018, as a business instructor and Small Business Development Center regional director respectively.