A major shift has taken place at Southern Maine Community College. President Joseph Cassidy recently announced that he would be leaving SMCC to take on the role of President at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine. This leaves many to question, will there be a disruption for students, staff and facilities within our community? The short answer is, not very likely.  

This rang true on Friday June 16th 2023, when David Daigler, President of the Maine Community College System, spoke to a room filled with SMCC faculty members and stage. As he was speaking he reassured everyone that to cause as little disruption as possible to our SMCC community he would “bring someone from within the college to sustain the momentum.” 

Daigler gave thanks to Cassidy as he spoke to the crowd “It is a compliment to Joe that we have such a solid foundation to build on.” He went on to say who would be taking Cassidy’s place while they “pursue a national search.” 

Daigler claimed that “…there was a lot of tossing and turning for me as I came to this decision.” With everyone on the edge of their seats, the decision was finally revealed. Daigler said “I have asked Tiffanie Bentley to step up.” 

This will be a temporary position for Bentley as SMCC continues their national search to find a new President for SMCC. The SMCC Beacon has sent a few questions to Bentley, and will share the information next week.