SFCC President resigns for new role at a San Francisco community college

The president of Spokane Falls Community College resigned from her role after six years, the school announced Wednesday.

Kimberlee Messina will be returning to California to assume a new role as the chancellor of City College of San Francisco, according to a news release from Spokane Falls. She’s served in her role as leader of the community college since her appointment in June 2019; her last day will be June 30.

Spokane Colleges Chancellor Kevin Brockbank congratulated Messina on her new role in a written statement.

“City College of San Francisco will be in good hands with Dr. Messina,” Brockbank wrote. “During her tenure, President Messina has worked through numerous challenges and created new opportunities for the faculty, staff, and students of SFCC.”

College administration selected Vice President of Student Affairs Patrick McEachern as interim president while Brockbank and representatives from Spokane Falls and the community college district search for Messina’s successor, an estimated yearlong process, according to the release.

When identified, the names of finalists for president will be made public, spokesman Jeff Bunch wrote in an email.

McEachern has worked at Community Colleges of Spokane since 2014, first as an instructional designer and has since served as adjunct faculty, district director of eLearning and associate provost.

By serving in the interim role, McEachern is excluded from consideration for the permanent role.

“Under her leadership, our college has made remarkable progress,” McEachern wrote in a provided statement. “Carrying this momentum forward while we search for our next permanent president is not a responsibility I take lightly.”

Brockbank wrote that his priorities in the search are “to ensure stability” and to find a candidate who will “help all of Spokane Colleges move forward together.”