The arrival of STLCC’s newest, and current, Chancellor was announced in March of 2015
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
As The Montage approaches its 60th anniversary later in 2024, it’s notable that archived digital copies that can be viewed by readers on The Montage’s “Issuu” page only date back to 2010. The rest are not lost to time, however. Print copies, both loose and binded, still exist. They date all the way back to the very first issue in 1964 and can be accessed in the Library.
As we approach the next volume of issues, The Montage would like to take you back in time to some of those issues throughout the coming school year. This month, we’re looking at the month of March 2015, where The Montage’s reported on the arrival of Chancellor Jeff Pittman, who still holds the position to this day.
“The STLCC Board of Trustees announced on Tuesday, March 10 that Jeff Pittman, Ph. D., has accepted the chancellor position,” Montage Editor Spencer Gleason and reporter Christian Hargas reported in the Mar. 12, 2015 issue. “Pittman will assume the responsibilities of STLCC chancellor effective July 1 and has signed a contract for the next five years.”
In an interview with Board of Trustees Chair Craig Larson, Larson said “The board members really liked [him] and found in the written comments, that we had gotten [from STLCC staff and faculty], confirmed the personal nature of Dr. Pittman. Somebody stated that he’s not trying to impress you, but he has a deep background in his own work in community college. He has a very personable style.”
The Montage reported that Pittman had served as the statewide vice president of corporate college services and online education at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, since January 2013. Prior to that, he was chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Wabash Valley Region for 11 years.
Pittman still holds the title to this day, a stark contrast to a quick succession of Chancellors that came before him. His term has been marred in some instances by controversy, including staff and faculty cuts in 2017 that were strongly opposed by the student body and led to a violent altercation between a security guard and adjunct Professor Steve Taylor at a Board Of Trustees meeting.
More recently, in the college’s 2023 Best Place To Work Survey, Pittman was anonymously accused of having “a known habit of making horrendous comments about those who move on to better opportunities and [a known habit of] treating them terribly upon receiving resignations.” Pittman strongly denied these accusations to The Montage.
Take another look at Pittman’s arrival from the Sept. 3, 2015 issue below:
