
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 16, 1991                   TAG: 9104160316
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHIEF RESIGNS POST

David R. Pierce, who became chancellor of Virginia's community college system less than a year ago, resigned Monday to became head of the American Association of Junior and Community Colleges.

Pierce will leave the chancellor's job in middle to late summer, said William D. Dolan III, chairman of the community college board.

"Professionally, it's a significant step upward for him," Dolan said. "We're delighted for him. We congratulate him. He is outstanding."

Pierce was not immediately available for comment.

Dolan said the board would discuss finding a successor to Pierce at its May 15-16 meeting.

Pierce took over the community college system last May after Jeff Hockaday left to take another job. Pierce formerly was executive director of the Illinois Community College Board in Springfield.

Dolan said he did not see the departure of two chancellors in two years as a setback for the state system of 23 two-year colleges.

"I don't see it to be a setback at all. The general long-range mission of the system is set. We have within the system a lot of talented people," he said.

Dolan said the board would conduct a national search for Pierce's successor.

The community colleges have been hit particularly hard by state budget cuts in the past year. The board last week raised tuition by more than 17 percent for the 1991-92 school year to hold down faculty layoffs and course eliminations.

State funding for the 1990-91 school year was cut nearly 12 percent. Even with the tuition increase, the system will suffer a $14.7 million loss in revenue next year, system officials said.

by CNB