The Alamo Community Colleges’ Board of Trustees has named James N. McLaughlin as the ACCD’s new vice chancellor for administration. McLaughlin, a 30-year veteran of higher education finance and administration, most recently served as president of Santa Fe Community College. He will assume his duties September 4.

Previous to being named president at Santa Fe Community College, McLaughlin was the college’s chief financial officer. Before coming to Santa Fe, he served as: vice president for business affairs at San Juan College in Farmington, NM; as chief finance officer for the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver, CO; and as an associate controller at the University of New Mexico. He also has held various state-level finance positions with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the Colorado Office of State Planning and Budgeting, the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education and the Colorado Community College System.

McLaughlin, a native of Michigan, earned his bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting and economics and a master of arts in higher education financial administration from Michigan State University.

In addition to authoring numerous reports on funding mechanisms, educational effectiveness and accountability, and higher education in general, he has presented programs on educational policy, budgeting, entrepreneurship and planning at national and regional meetings of the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Community College Trustees, the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the Community College Business Officers and the Society for College and University Planners.

McLaughlin has been an active member in local educational associations such as the New Mexico Association of Community Colleges (treasurer and vice president), New Mexico Independent Community Colleges and the New Mexico Two-Year College Business Officers Task Force. He brings to the district extensive experience with business and industry, the Colorado and New Mexico legislatures and state-level and national higher education administrative entities (e.g. the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in Boulder, Colorado).