WCC president resigns

Wayne Community College President Dr. Thomas Walker Jr. resigned this morning to accept a leadership position with the University of North Carolina System.

His last day on the job will be July 23.

“We wish Dr. Walker the very best in his new position with The University of North Carolina System,” said WCC Board of Trustees Chair Donnie Barnes. “While Wayne Community College greatly regrets seeing him leave, we are pleased that he will become a vital part of the best state university system in the United States. Wayne County can now share him with all of the state of North Carolina.”

Walker’s new role, Senior Advisor for Economic Development and Military Affairs for The University of North Carolina System, will see him act as the liaison between the university system and the North Carolina Community College System.

But he stressed that he will spend the next month-plus focused on WCC — not looking ahead to his next chapter.

“I won’t be a lame-duck president,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to do before I go.”

One project he wants to focus on in his remaining time is the creation of the CITE (Center for Industrial Technology and Engineering). He also wants to help get college enrollment back to its pre-COVID-19 levels and growing again.

And he will also spend his remaining time in Wayne County lauding a faculty he said is second to none.

“This is the best faculty and staff I’ve worked with in 30 years,” Walker said of WCC employees. “These past five years have been some of the most professionally and personally rewarding of my life. I thought I would be here for another 10 years. It is just an opportunity I can’t turn down.”

Walker took the reins at WCC in September 2016 — coming to the college from Nebraska where he was the campus president of the Grand Island campus of Central Community College, a position he had held since 2014. Prior to that, he was the vice-president for student and enrollment services for all locations of the college, which serves 25 counties. He has also worked in higher education in Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

“Dr. Walker’s leadership over the past five years have been instrumental in moving Wayne Community College forward,” Barnes said. “The addition of degree and certificate programs, construction of the automotive and collision repair center, the progress towards building a Center for Industrial Technology and Engineering, and the significant increase both in statewide and national recognition for Wayne Community College’s accomplishments are all evidence of what a tremendous leader he has been.”