Metke finalist for TJC president

The Tyler Junior College Board of Trustees has announced Dr. Mike Metke as the lone finalist in the search for a new college president.

The board was unanimous in its decision to choose Metke as the successor to TJC President Dr. William R. Crowe, who announced his retirement plans last summer.

The search timeline calls for the new president to begin duties no later than January 2008.

Dr. L. Michael Metke currently serves as president of Lake Washington Technical College, Kirkland, Wash. Lake Washington Technical College had a Fall 2006 enrollment of 4,351 students.

At Lake Washington, Dr. Metke worked with 11 local chambers of commerce to successfully lobby for legislative priorities related to the services of the college. An avid fitness enthusiast, he annually leads a fund-raising fitness challenge for students, employees and supporters of the college with proceeds benefiting student scholarship programs.

He has served as president of Lake Washington since 1999. Among previous work, he served as: vice president for instruction and student development, dean of instruction and student development and campus dean at South Texas Community College; director of ca- reer guidance and counseling, director of campus information and chair of developmental studies at Texas State Technical College; and as instructor of criminal justice at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin.

He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Costa Rica from 1966- 68, completing projects that included a schoolhouse, road, soccer team and fund-raising and he returned to the region in 1983, 1987, 1999 and 2004 to confirm lifestyle improvements.

He completed a bachelor of arts degree at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1970, a law enforcement certification at Fox Valley Technical College in 1970, a master of science degree at University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh in 1974, and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Houston in 1993.