Dr. Carmen R. Cid Named Interim President of Quinebaug Valley Community College

Dr. Carmen R. Cid, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Eastern Connecticut State University, was appointed interim president at Quinebaug Valley Community College, effective Aug. 1, 2013, after approval by the Board of Regents for Higher Education.

She succeeds Dr. Robert E. Miller, QVCC’s founding president, who has served as interim president since November. She will serve through Dec. 31, 2013, or until a president is appointed by the board.

“I am honored and excited to have this great opportunity to showcase the latest career development innovations and diverse talents of Quinebaug Valley Community College" Dr. Carmen R. Cid

Dr. Cid has served as dean of Eastern’s School of Arts and Sciences since 2005, and has 28 years of higher education experience as a professor of ecology and chair of Eastern’s Biology Department. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in enhancing K-16 student and faculty recruitment and retention, especially for women and minorities in the sciences, for development of innovative interdisciplinary programs, and college transfer articulation.

“I am honored and excited to have this great opportunity to showcase the latest career development innovations and diverse talents of Quinebaug Valley Community College, while helping improve transfer articulation in the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system to continue effecting a positive transformation of the lives of so many Connecticut students,” said Cid.

“Dr. Cid’s dedication to students, faculty and the retention of women and minorities in the sciences will be an asset to the college,” said Gregory W. Gray, president, Board of Regents. “Her leadership skills, academic scholarship and work in transfer articulation will make a positive impact on both the Quinebaug Valley Community College community and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.”

At Eastern, Cid has led the development of new majors, promoted undergraduate research and led the academic programming of the university’s new Science Building. She was instrumental in receiving significant grant awards to support improvements in student retention and graduation rates for economically disadvantaged and other at-risk student populations. For the last four years, she has been co-principal investigator to the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation, charged with infusing gender equity training in department chairs and deans’ mentoring programs, enhancing leadership training for minority faculty, and improving recruitment and retention of women faculty.

Last year, she received the 2012 Connecticut ACE Women’s Network Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award, was named Connecticut’s Latina Citizen of the Year, and received the 2012 Ecological Society of America Diversity Award.

Cid graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology from New York University, received her master’s degree in botany from Ohio State University, and a doctorate in plant ecology from Michigan State University. She began her teaching career in 1985 at what is now Truman State University —Missouri’s public liberal arts university — moving to Eastern Connecticut State University in 1987.