BC3 president Azari leaves for Calif. post
BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College President Cynthia Azari is leaving the school for another job.
Azari said Wednesday she has accepted the position of vice chancellor of the State Center Community College District in Fresno, Calif.
She will be in charge of operations at two colleges and three learning centers, she said. There are 32,000 students in the district.
BC3 has 3,500 students.
Azari said she is still finalizing a start date in Fresno, but she expects it to be in August.
Board of trustees member Joan Chew said Azari has done a "wonderful" job at the college.
"We're sorry to lose her," she said. "I know the whole college is sorry to lose her."
Still, Chew said she understands why Azari would want to move up.
Stan Kosciuszko, president of the Butler County Chamber of Chamber, said Azari "opened doors to the college to non-traditional ideas.
"She brought a new flavor to the college," he said.
Azari is a member of the chamber's board of directors.
She has been at BC3 since 2002 and is the college's first woman and its first Mexican-American president. She came to Butler from Olympic College in Bremerton, Wash., where she was vice president of instruction.
She replaced Fred Bartok, who retired, at BC3.
During her tenure, she established awards for faculty and community service. The college got state funding for a new student services building and it received commendations from the Middle States Accreditation team.
Chew cited the Middle States evaluation and a 40th anniversary celebration last year as among Azari's greatest accomplishments.
The college is still working on a classroom site in Lawrence County and the student services building.
In addition to the chamber, Azari is on the board of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County. She also is a member of Rotary International and the American Association of University Women.
Azari said the college's board of trustees is expected to meet in executive session Monday to choose an interim president. That person will be named at the June 20 meeting.
