Presidential Finalists

Chad Crumbaker, J.D., serves as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Workforce Innovation at Aiken Technical College. His executive leadership experience spans academic affairs, student affairs, workforce development, institutional effectiveness, and organizational change. His work is grounded in partnerships, data-informed decision-making, and a consistent focus on helping students achieve their goals.

Working with business, education, and community partners, Chad has helped expand apprenticeship opportunities through flexible delivery and noncredit models, develop pre-apprenticeship pathways into construction careers, and create new short-term workforce programs. He collaborated across campus to establish a new Learning Commons, helped create an Entrepreneurship Center, developed 2+2 transfer pathways with four-year institutions, and secured support from the Metallica Scholars Initiative to expand students' access to industry credentials.

Prior to joining Aiken Technical College, Chad served at West Virginia University at Parkersburg as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, Chair of the Business, Accounting and Public Service Division, and Coordinator of the Legal Studies Program. He began his higher education career as an adjunct instructor before becoming a full-time faculty member and progressing through academic leadership roles. He continues to teach and remains a strong advocate for removing barriers to student success.

His commitment to student success is reflected in initiatives including the implementation of guided pathways, which produced sustained double-digit increases in student retention, and the design and implementation of WVUP Ascend, a $1.8 million initiative replicating the City University of New York's nationally recognized Accelerated Study in Associate Programs model. WVUP Ascend produced additional gains in student retention and completion for participating students.

Chad is active in his community and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Aiken County, the Advisory Board for Successteam, and the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries of the Summit, where he recently completed a two-year term as board chair.

He earned a B.A. in International Studies from the University of South Carolina and a Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School. He is admitted to the bar in two states and, following law school, worked in private practice and spent seven years with the West Virginia Judiciary. Having grown up in an entrepreneurial family in the construction industry, he has also held heating, ventilation, and air conditioning contractor licenses in two states.

Outside of his professional work, this year Chad attended his 26th Indianapolis 500, continuing a family tradition begun by his grandfather, carried on by his father, and now shared with his sons.

Dr. Lori A. Heafner currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC), where she provides strategic leadership for the college’s academic divisions and programs. With more than 25 years of experience in higher education and 20 years of service to HGTC, she brings extensive experience in academic leadership, institutional effectiveness, strategic planning, accreditation, grants, and community and workforce partnerships. 

Throughout her career at HGTC, Dr. Heafner has served in multiple leadership roles of increasing responsibility, providing her with a broad understanding of the college and the communities it serves. Prior to becoming Vice President for Academic Affairs, she served as Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Development, leading college-wide efforts in strategic planning, institutional research, accreditation, grants development, and assessment. She has also served as an adjunct instructor, giving her firsthand experience with the transformative impact faculty can have on students.

A collaborative and student-centered leader, Dr. Heafner has helped advance numerous initiatives designed to expand educational access, strengthen student success, respond to regional workforce needs, and build partnerships with K-12 schools, universities, healthcare organizations, businesses, and community leaders. She has played a key role in developing new academic and workforce pathways, strengthening transfer opportunities, expanding dual enrollment and early college partnerships, and securing significant external resources to support students and programs.

Dr. Heafner is actively engaged in the community and believes that strong colleges are built through strong partnerships. She serves as Chair of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and has held leadership roles with several regional and statewide organizations. Her community involvement has provided her with a unique perspective on the intersections of education, workforce development, economic development, and the long-term needs of Horry and Georgetown counties.

Her professional leadership also extends throughout South Carolina and the Southeast. Dr. Heafner has extensive experience with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), including serving as the chair for reaffirmation and substantive change committees. She has been recognized for her leadership and expertise in institutional effectiveness, accreditation, student success, and continuous improvement.

Dr. Heafner earned her Ph.D. in Educational Sciences with a concentration in Higher Education Administration from Coastal Carolina University. Her doctoral research examined vertical transfer processes between South Carolina’s technical colleges and four-year institutions, reflecting her longstanding commitment to creating educational pathways that expand opportunity for students.

A native of North Carolina and a community college graduate herself, Dr. Heafner began her higher education career at Cleveland Community College before joining HGTC in 2006. Her career has been grounded in a belief that education creates opportunities, and technical colleges have a unique responsibility to transform lives, strengthen communities, and drive regional economic prosperity.

Dr. Diane Mucci is a higher education leader with more than two decades of experience advancing student success, academic excellence, and community partnership within the Virginia Community College System. She currently serves as Provost of the Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), where she provides executive leadership across academic affairs, enrollment, workforce development, and institutional effectiveness for a campus serving more than 18,000 students annually.

Dr. Mucci's path to the provost's office began in the classroom. She joined NOVA in 2004 as Program Head for Biotechnology and Professor of Biology, later serving as Dean of Math, Science, Technology, and Business at the Manassas Campus from 2015 to 2022, and briefly as the college's Interim Chief Academic Officer. Before NOVA, she was a faculty member at Frederick Community College in Maryland, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, a scientist and writer for the National Library of Medicine, and a contributor to private-sector work at Lockheed Martin. That blend of bench science, scientific writing, and industry experience continues to inform her approach to workforce-aligned academic programming.

As provost, Dr. Mucci has built a track record of resource development and measurable student outcomes, overseeing a grant and fundraising portfolio exceeding $2 million, including serving as Principal Investigator on a $1.3 million U.S. Department of Education AANAPISI grant, project director for a $500,000 HUD grant for facilities work, and stewarding a $900,000 Mandel Foundation initiative in the humanities. Her campus has seen rising retention and completion rates, growing enrollment across in-person and online modalities. She has also led major capital projects, including the rebuilding of the campus’ primary academic facility, the complete renovation of the student union, and the development of new workforce training laboratories. Dr. Mucci has likewise championed campus and community life, establishing Quilts of Valor recognition ceremonies honoring military service members, launching an annual Night of Science and the Arts celebrating student and community creativity, and hosting campus giving day initiatives with the NOVA Education Foundation to build a culture of philanthropy.

A committed advocate for shared governance, Dr. Mucci has twice chaired NOVA's College Senate, chaired the Academic Deans' Council, and currently chairs the college's Provost Work Group and the VCCS Institutional Effectiveness Committee, collaborating with peers across Virginia's 23 community colleges. She has completed training to support students affected by trauma, facilitated data-equity summits in STEM fields, and participated in the NOVA Student Success Leadership Academy in partnership with Achieving the Dream.

Dr. Mucci is an active civic leader, serving on advisory boards including the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, the George Mason University SciTech Campus Advisory Board, and Fairfax County's Successful Children and Youth Policy Team. She is a graduate of Leadership Prince William, the American Council on Education's Virginia Women's Network Senior Leadership Seminar, and the Chancellor's VCCS Faculty and Administrator Leadership Academy, and has been recognized with NVCC's Super Prof Award and the NISOD Award for teaching excellence.

Dr. Mucci holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and a B.S. in Biology from the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Ohio. She and her approach to leadership are grounded in a simple conviction: that student success and institutional excellence are built on the strength, support, and development of the faculty and staff who do the daily work of teaching and serving students.