Everett Community College president set for $281K salary

Chemene Crawford has been hired as the college’s next president to oversee some 800 employees and 15,000 students.

Chemene Crawford (Everett Community College)

Chemene Crawford (Everett Community College)

EVERETT — Incoming Everett Community College President Chemene Crawford is set to earn $281,000 a year under a three-year contract approved by the school’s board of trustees Tuesday.

Since June 2021, Crawford has been CEO and president of North Seattle College. She served three years as interim president at the school with over 4,800 students enrolled in fall 2021.

She is set to start at Everett, which has over 800 employees, around 15,000 students and an annual operating budget of $75 million, on July 1. Trustees offered her the position in April following a national search that lasted more than a year.

“The first 90 days will be critical to the process of moving the college forward by leaning into our strengths and pivoting our practice, where needed, to promote student success,” Crawford said in a press release. “I plan to spend a tremendous amount of time speaking with students, faculty, and staff about their vision for EvCC.”

The salary is near the upper end of the job posting’s range of $225,000 to $282,000. Crawford also gets health benefits similar to other public employees, retirement benefits and up to 24 days of vacation, according to the contract. Up to $20,000 for moving expenses is available as well, though Crawford already lives nearby in Lynnwood.

Crawford has a doctor of education degree in organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University, as well as a master’s degree in human resources and organization development and a bachelor’s degree of science in organizational behavior, both from the University of San Francisco.

Community colleges across the country reported lower enrollment through the pandemic. Everett Community College saw similar declines from a peak headcount of over 10,000 students in the 2019-20 school year to just over 7,900 in 2021-22, according to data from the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges.

That number does not include students in adult basic education, continuing education or corporate education, or in Running Start or College in the High School offered by EvCC.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.

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