The State Board of Community Colleges has selected former Louisiana higher education leader Monty Sullivan to become the next president of the North Carolina Community College System, pending confirmation by the General Assembly.
Sullivan spent 12 years leading the Louisiana Community and Technical College System before retiring from that position in January. If confirmed, he would oversee North Carolina’s 58 community colleges, which serve more than 600,000 students annually and award more than 60,000 degrees, diplomas, and certificates.
The State Board voted July 17 to select Sullivan following recommendations from its Presidential Search Committee and a separate advisory council composed of business, education, workforce development, and state government leaders. The selection was publicly announced on July 23.
“The Board committed to conducting the most disciplined and comprehensive presidential search in our history because North Carolina deserved the very best leader,” State Board Chairman Tom Looney said. “Dr. Monty Sullivan has the passion, experience, vision, character, and proven record to lead our community college system at the speed of business and innovation.”
Sullivan’s nomination will now go before the General Assembly, which has had confirmation authority over the system president since lawmakers changed state law in 2023.
Under the law, the State Board must submit its selection to the leaders of the House and Senate within 15 days. Sullivan may serve as interim president while legislators consider his nomination, but cannot formally become president until the General Assembly approves a joint resolution confirming him.
The system said Sullivan is expected to serve as acting president, subject to contract approval, during the confirmation process. A starting date has not been announced.
“North Carolina’s Community College System has built something the rest of the country watches,” Sullivan said. “That work happens across North Carolina — in welding labs, nursing programs, and early college classrooms. I’m committed to reaching every student who wants a better job and every employer who can’t find enough skilled workers. I’m grateful to the State Board for its confidence, and we will deliver.”
Sullivan said he would focus on reaching students seeking better-paying jobs and employers struggling to find skilled workers.
During his tenure in Louisiana between 2014 and 2025, the number of students graduating from the state’s community and technical colleges nearly doubled, according to the North Carolina system. Foundation assets tripled, and Sullivan helped secure more than $500 million in legislative funding for new and renovated workforce-training facilities.
Sullivan previously served as chancellor of Delgado Community College in New Orleans and as executive vice president of the Louisiana system. Earlier in his career, he worked as vice chancellor for academic services and research for the Virginia Community College System.
Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and a member of the search advisory council, said community colleges play a central role in the state’s economic-recruitment efforts.
“Corporate executives and business leaders ask us every day whether and how North Carolina can produce the workforce they need,” Chung said. “Our community college system — its breadth, its depth, its reach, and its capabilities — is what we lead with every time.”
Sullivan would succeed Jeff Cox, who retired June 30 after leading the system since 2023. Cox’s tenure included the development of Propel NC, a proposed overhaul of the system’s funding formula intended to direct more resources to programs preparing students for high-demand, higher-paying careers.
