SPCC welcomes new president
by Abby Cavenaugh
The Anson Record, July 20, 2011  

As of July 5, Dr. Stan Sidor is the new president of South Piedmont Community College (SPCC), replacing Dr. John McKay, who retired at the end of June after serving as the college's president for eight years.

Sidor has 22 years of experience in the community college field, most recently at Daytona State College. "I started in the customized training side," he said, "and eventually moved to the curriculum side."

Before entering the education field, Sidor started his own consulting company and prior to that worked in industrial engineering, eventually becoming part-owner of a small manufacturing company chain.

"I've spent a good amount of my career in business development," he said, including helping build a community college in the Bahamas. He also was part of organizing the first community college in the Dominican Republic, which will open in August.

In addition, Sidor organized the curriculum at Daytona State College, where he helped build a technology center from the ground up. The center is an area bigger than the state of Rhode Island, he said.

He chose to continue his career at SPCC because, he says, "I, for some strange reason, wanted to be president of a college."

He added that he loves the range of different kinds of people and communities from the river at the Richmond-Anson County line to the Union County line. "We cover quite a service area here," he said.

SPCC itself also impressed Sidor. "What impressed me is that South Piedmont Community College is very well run. It's highly regarded by the community and it listens to the community."

When asked about filling McKay's shoes, Sidor responded, "I've been very lucky. I had the chance to talk with Dr. McKay over the past couple of months. He offered his help and information all the way through."

A little over a week into the job, Sidor said he's still "learning how to fit all the pieces together," but he envisions a successful future for SPCC under his leadership.

"Part of our strategic plan is to expand services in both counties," he said. "That will include more courses and more areas of study."

Sidor added that he was pleased to hear the news that a company, GrowGreen Power, is planning to locate in Anson County, bringing a new type of industry and an estimated 300 jobs. Sidor said he talked with County Manager Lawrence Gatewood briefly, to learn about what programs the college could offer to help GrowGreen Power with its transition into the Anson community.

"We work well together," he said of SPCC and the communities of Anson and Union counties. "The college is a very integral part of the community."

However, the college does, of course, face challenges. "In Union, we're space-challenged," he said. "We're looking at growth and have to deal with what we can and cannot do. In Anson, we need to look at programs that need to be offered. We'll probably be offering more online programs as well."

Budgeting is another challenge, especially since SPCC is state-funded and the state cut funding this year for higher education, and will probably cut it again next year, Sidor said. "We have to figure out how to offer more with less."

Sidor lives in Union County, but spends a lot of time at both the Union and Anson County campus, as well as the Lockhart-Taylor Center in Wadesboro.

"Anson County has been very gracious in its support of our campus there," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the community and helping young people learn higher skills and get better jobs."