BCCC board welcomes new trustee, chair
Published 7:12 pm Tuesday, June 20, 2017
- THANK YOU: Vice Chair Betty Randolph awards a plaque to Dr. Laura Staton, the outgoing chair of the Board of Trustees, thanking her for her contributions to the community college. (BCCC)
Two trustees were sworn in at the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees meeting on June 6.
Business owner Betty Randolph returns to the board, beginning her third term, while Jim Chrisman, chief financial officer for Tideland Electric Membership Corp., is a new trustee. The board elected the Rev. Dr. Robert Cayton as its new chair.
It was also an inaugural meeting for Dr. David Loope, the new president of BCCC.
A native of South Carolina, Randolph has been a leader in Beaufort County business, education and politics for almost 40 years. She graduated from Williamsburg County Training School, now C.E. Murray High School, in Greeleyville, S.C. She attended North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro, N.C., where she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics education in 1965.
For many years, Randolph has owned and operated Randolph Funeral Home, an enterprise that she began with her late husband. A leader in local education, Randolph is a former member of the Washington City Board of Education and the Beaufort County Board of Education. She was reappointed to the BCCC board by the Beaufort County Board of Education.
Chrisman began serving as CFO at Tideland EMC in 2014. Before taking the position with Tideland, he had served as the CFO and assistant county manager for Beaufort County. Chrisman was appointed to the BCCC board by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners. He succeeds banker Bill Wall.
During the meeting, Randolph, the current vice chair, awarded a plaque to outgoing chair Dr. Laura Staton to thank her for her service to the board. Staton’s term ends this month. She was appointed by former Gov. Pat McCrory in 2013.
Cayton now chairs the BCCC Board of Trustees, which he joined earlier in 2017 after being appointed by the Beaufort County commissioners. Cayton has served on the board previously, with a total of 23 years of service, making him the longest serving member in the history of the governing body.
The board of trustees elected Kathleen Simpson as its new vice chair. Simpson is a retired colonel from the U.S. Army and a former clinical assistant professor at East Carolina University’s School of Nursing.
The board also recognized Tracey Johnson as Staff of the Year and Matthew Lincoln as Faculty of the Year. Johnson has been serving as print shop coordinator, but she will be taking over as the administrative assistant to campus operations in July. Lincoln is the lead instructor for mechanical engineering technology.