CWC hires new vice president for academic affairs

Central Wyoming College announced Tuesday evening that candidate, Brad Tyndall, accepted the position for the vice president of academic affairs. Tyndall plans to start July 13, 2015.

“CWC is extremely excited to welcome Dr. Tyndell and his family to our institution and community,” Dr. Cris Valdez, CWC president said. “Brad brings a wealth of experience in academic affairs in the community college environment. His leadership is comprehensive and empowering and his technical skills are superlative. He has a positive attitude, is engaging and contagious.”

Tyndall has worked for community colleges for 19 years, serving as an adjunct faculty, full-time faculty, department chair, campus academic dean and vice president. He currently is the vice president of academic affairs at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs, Colo. Previously, he was the dean of instruction and chief academic officer at Crowder College in southwest Missouri, where he also served a term as the president of the Missouri Community College Association’s Chief Academic Officers Group.

Tyndall has Ph.D. in economics with specializations in environmental economics and international finance. His master’s degree is in agricultural and natural resource economics; both degrees are from Colorado State University. Tyndall has a bachelor’s in science journalism from the University of Maryland and has spent time at the Université de Strasbourg in France studying French and at the Sudan Arabic Institute in Khartoum studying Arabic.

During his presentation to the college Tyndall discussed course credits, certificates and completions. Certificates can be utilized if they are useful, meaningful and meets the student’s needs, Tyndall said.

“We need to know what our values are and what our goals are,” Tyndall said.

Tyndall also said the college needs to focus on excellence; to pursue awards in student success but make sure they are meaningful. Tyndall expressed his values are in helping people and to see students succeed.

“You have to prepare people for school and you also have to listen to them, knowing and understanding a person’s path is important,” Tyndall said.

Tyndall has worked with various outreach centers with Colorado Mountain College which includes many trips through mountain passes, much like CWC has with Jackson. The outreach centers are part of the system, Tyndall said.

“Sometimes you have to be really creative on getting some things going at these centers but strategic planning with people and the communities are important, if you have the numbers and strength at one place then you run with it.”

“Brad’s presence will be a real asset and a great fit as we grow a positive culture and serve our communities into the future,” Dr. Valdez said.

Tyndall loves teaching and has managed to teach about one course per year as an administrator. He also enjoys dabbling in agriculture by way of growing grapes and making wine. He loves stargazing, skiing and fishing. Tyndall is originally from Littleton, Colorado and has spent much time hiking and boating in Wyoming with his family. He is married to Audrey and they have three children, Sophia, Tedla and Jalon.

“We were fortunate to have an excellent pool of candidates for the position,” said Jennifer Rey, executive director of human resources at CWC. “Dr. Tyndall rose to the top of this talented pool because of his breadth of experience in leading academic divisions as well as his passion for the mission of community colleges.”