WNC search committee recommends Dr. Vincent R. Solis as new college president

UPDATE FRIDAY: The Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education voted Friday to name Dr. Vincent R. Solis as the next president of Western Nevada College effective July 1. Go here for the updated story.
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CARSON CITY — The Western Nevada College President Search Committee voted today to recommend Dr. Vincent R. Solis as the next president of the College. Dr. Solis is currently the Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas.

“I want to thank the advisory committee and members of the board on the President Search Committee,” said Committee Chair Regent Rick Trachok. “We had three excellent candidates with over 100 applicants. The committee’s choice and recommendation, in my opinion, will move WNC to the next level, where it and Nevada needs it to be.”

The President’s Search Committee recommendation will be considered during a special meeting of the Board of Regents on Friday, May 4.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the NSHE System Administration Office in Las Vegas with video conferencing to Reno and Elko.

According to a biography provided by WNC, Dr. Solis is a life-long educator and currently serves as the Senior Vice President for Academic and Affairs at Laredo Community College. He has a broad background in higher education that spans more twenty-five years committed service in higher education.

During his tenures in various roles, Dr. Solis has had the privilege of providing leadership for many essential campus operations such as instruction & academic affairs, student services, enrollment, community outreach services, athletics, dual enrollment initiatives, auxiliary business services, special projects, construction, and student success/engagement/graduation programs.

Dr. Solis began his post-secondary education at Chemeketa Community College and later transitioned to Texas A&M-Kingsville where he received his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Sociology, his Master of Science in Psychology, and his Doctorate in Bilingual Education.

In his current role as the Chief Academic and Student Affairs officer, Dr. Solis has the responsibility of providing oversight and leadership to all areas of instruction including academic, workforce, and continuing education. He also provides leadership to all of the units in student services and enrollment management. He helps lead a team of more than 190 full time faculty members, 110 full time support service team members along with more than 150 adjunct and non-instructional part-time members of the college family.

The units he has helped lead have received achievement awards that include the Commitment to Excellence Award, the Innovation Award in Student Success, and the Team Effort Award. Dr. Solis is a recipient of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award, and in 2014 he was selected to participate in and successfully completed the State of Texas Governors Executive Development Program (Class XXXIII).

At that time, he was only one of a handful of community college representatives to complete this prestigious leadership development program in the State of Texas. Dr. Solis also served as co-chair when working with the Foundations of Excellence Institute which was a campus wide student success program. In 2017 Dr. Solis was selected to participate as one of 30 chief academic officers from across the country in the Digital Fellows Program sponsored by the Association of Chief Academic Officers.

Dr. Solis is not only committed to his professional endeavors in higher education, he has also served his local communities in various service roles including the serving as Vice President and later President of the Community Boxing Club of Brownsville, Vice President of the Police Athletic League of Brownsville, volunteer instructor for Sexual Assault Prevention, Chair of the United Way State Employee Campaign, and serves as proud member of the Laredo Rotary Club where he was has received the distinctions of having been awarded the Paul Harris award, selected as Rotarian of the month twice, and was selected as the 2016 Ignite Member of the Year for his work in outreach for Rotary.

Dr. Solis has frequently serves as a presenter and speaker for various areas. Some of these include the Department of Education on the Impact of Executive Leadership on Student Success. He also served as the keynote speaker for South Texas Hispanic Male Leadership Summit, guest speaker for the 2016 regional Rotary Conference, and keynote speaker on Student Services for Latino Millennial Students with the National Community College Hispanic Council. He has also served as a keynote speaker and pod cast presenter for Workforce Solutions of South Texas.