Riverland Community College has named Kelly McCalla as interim vice president of academic and student affairs. The one year appointment began Aug. 24. McCalla has been serving as Riverland’s dean of the arts, humanities and social sciences division since July 2, 2014.

With more than 20 years of higher education experience, McCalla spent much of his career at Central Lakes College, a community and technical college serving the Brainerd/Staples region of Northern Minnesota. More recently, he served as an academic dean at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has recognized McCalla through several awards including Administrator of the Year (2012) and several in best practices in diversity awards (2013).

He was elected and chaired the school board in District 182 (Crosby-Ironton Schools). McCalla’s background also includes service as assistant to the Minnesota state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development in St. Paul. His education credentials include doctoral work at the University of St. Thomas, master and bachelor’s degrees in English from Bemidji State University, and an associate in arts degree from Brainerd Community College (now Central Lakes College).

 “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dean Kelly McCalla as the Interim Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs” said Dr. Adenuga Atewologun, college president. “Reference contacts described Kelly as ‘student-centered,’ ‘innovative,’ a ‘great communicator,’ with a ‘calm and reassuring demeanor,’ ‘knowledgeable about the system,’ ‘a relationship builder’ and ‘focused to achieve pre-determined goals.’ I look forward to his leadership of academic and student affairs.”

McCalla’s main office will be at the Austin campus, but he will work closely with all faculty and staff at all three campus locations including Albert Lea and Owatonna.

Riverland Community College, a member of the Minnesota State system, is a community college that inspires personal success through education. Approximately 4,900 students are served annually through a wide range of credit-based educational opportunities. An additional 5,400 students are annually served in non-credit courses. Campuses are located in Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna. The Riverland website can be found on the Internet at www.riverland.edu.

The Minnesota State system includes 30 community and technical colleges and seven state universities serving nearly 396,000 students. It is the fifth-largest higher education system of its kind in the United States.