After 14 years as president of Spoon River College (SRC), Curt Oldfield has announced his departure from SRC this summer to begin his new role as president of Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.
“The Board of Trustees is appreciative of Dr. Oldfield's service to Spoon River College. He began as a student, became an instructor, moved up to dean and then served for 14 years as president. Lincoln Land will present him with a new opportunity to continue his professional growth,” SRC Board of Trustees Chair Kevin Meade. “The process to find our next president will begin immediately with the selection of a national search firm. We look forward to a dialogue with faculty, staff, students and the communities we serve to assist in selecting our new president. The Board will announce next steps in the presidential search process in the coming weeks.”
As SRC president, Oldfield has focused on improving graduation and retention rates, increasing the number of relevant academic programs, strengthening internal communication, expanding external partnerships and community development, enhancing continuous improvement processes and developing a sense of belonging for all employees and students.
Under his leadership, he guided the college through Continued from page 1 several capital projects, including construction of the Multipurpose Building, baseball and softball fields on the Canton campus and building Macomb’s new SRC campus.
“This decision comes after 14 remarkable years serving as the eighth president of Spoon River College. Leading Spoon River College has been an extraordinary privilege, and I'm deeply grateful for the trust, partnership and support I received from students, faculty, staff and the Macomb community throughout this journey,” Oldfield told The Community News Brief. “We've expanded educational opportunities, built enduring partnerships with businesses and community organizations and created a lasting foundation of opportunity that will continue enriching lives and driving economic vitality throughout west central Illinois for years to come.”
Prior to being named SRC's president, Oldfield served as the vice president of academic affairs for Northeast Iowa Community College. Oldfield is a first-generation college student and a Spoon River College alumnus. He began his career in education teaching agriculture at Roseville High School and then at Spoon River College. He received an associate degree from Spoon River College, a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University, his master's from University of Illinois and a doctoral degree from Ferris State University.
SRC serves approximately 1,200 students between its Macomb and Canton campuses. Nearly 300 students attend the branch campus in Macomb.
