Following a national search, Jenni Martin has been selected as the president of Spokane Community College, taking the helm officially in May after a year as the acting president.

Martin, 50, has held various roles in her 24-year tenure at SCC. She started her career there working with parents receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits who had returned to school to obtain their General Education Development degree or high school credential. Martin quickly moved into the classroom and began working as an adjunct adult basic education instructor.

After working in the classroom for seven years, Martin transitioned to administration and has served as the assistant dean of WorkFirst and the Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training program and vice president of instruction, among other positions within SCC. 

Before joining SCC in 2000, Martin, a soccer player and enthusiastic fan, was a coach for the Gonzaga University women’s soccer team and was selected to start a women’s soccer program at Eastern Washington University. 

Martin holds an doctorate in higher education administration from Northeastern University, a master of education degree in adult education from Eastern Washington University, and a bachelor's degree in history from Gonzaga University. 

The Journal recently sat down with Martin to discuss her rise to the presidency, how she came to work in higher education, and what advice she has for others who want to follow in her path. 

You started your career coaching soccer. How did you move to other roles in higher education? 

I loved the soccer programs that I got to build during that time. But it wasn’t a conducive career for building a family.  It was a different environment than is available to women today. I was young and a mom and did a lot of travel.

I left Eastern in 2000 and began working at Spokane Community College part-time. I immediately fell in love with the community college mission and with the students I was working with. It just changed my life. I went from working with elite Division I athletes to people who needed the education we provided. When they received their credentials or degrees, we changed their life, and not just their life but the lives of their families and kids. I became committed to the work.   

Can you point to specific moments that reinforced your love for this work? 

Recently, there was an event that had a very big impact on me. We offer education programs out at Airway Heights Correctional Center. The justice-involved students there have had some challenges that have brought them to that place. However, here is another place where education can change lives.

Last year, at graduation, I had a dad come up to me just beaming with pride and just so proud of his son. And it just hit me as a parent, this is a student who persisted and completed, and his dad is proud of him. He may not be proud of everything (his son) has done in his life, but he is proud of this. I’ve carried that with me this year, for sure. 

How was the transition from adjunct instructor to administration? 

I was teaching in a department that placed great value on adjuncts. There were very few full-time positions in the department, so there was the capacity to engage in projects like leading assessment efforts and representing our college at the state level with those assessments. Most adjuncts wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that. We have a really great state system in Washington with our 34 community technical colleges. When I started doing that work, I was excited about the greater impact that we can do within our roles to serve residents of the state. 

So, I had a dean and a department chair who trusted me to take on important work like assessment, accreditation, and advising work. I am kind of a yes-person, so whenever I was asked to take on a project, I said, sure. There were people who placed some trust in me, supported me, and allowed me the freedom to take risks and do some great work. 

Do you miss teaching since you've been in administration? 

I miss the frequent interaction with students. I really enjoy the energy I get from other people and students in particular. But I haven’t been in the classroom since 2008, so it’s been a while since I’ve had that level of interaction.

I get to see it at graduation. I also spend a fair amount of time on campus, trying to be out at student events. On the first day of class, I’m in the halls with everybody else helping the students find their way.

I think it’s important to stay connected and listen to students because their voices matter. If what we’re providing is not meeting their needs, then that is not OK with me. We need to be providing what the students need. If I’m not interacting with students, that becomes a gap for me. So I get some, but not as much interaction. But I truly feel like I make a bigger difference in this role. 

What career advice would you give to others? 

I’ve always been a believer in being family first. As a young mom raising my kids, I've made some decisions that were questioned at times, like taking my son to college instead of attending an event. Taking my son to college is important to me. I made those decisions that were risky and not always accepted, but I stayed true. 

I support not just parents, but everybody has life situations. We might have some employees who need to care for their own parents. Your family is important. We must make decisions that are best for our family because work will always be here. 

I delayed pursuing my doctorate because I didn’t want to do it while I was chasing my kids around and taking them to all these activities. That was questioned as well. So there were times when I had to advocate for myself.

I don’t want women or men at our institution to be questioned for choosing their families first. So if we can have an environment where people can be successful as employees but be able to put their family first, I’m really committed to advocating and providing that for our employees too. 

What do you hope to accomplish in this role? 

I have a few things I want to accomplish. I want to continue to build on our existing partnerships so that when our students graduate with their transfer degrees, there is a seamless pathway to a four-year university and a seamless pathway for our workforce graduates. 

Closing equity gaps for students in our community is something else I also want to achieve. It means making decisions that address how we support students so that they stay with us and complete their degrees. 

Those are things that are ambitious but tangible goals for us as an institution. I also think it's important for us to have a vibrant campus and have people visit our campus. For example, we have a bakery and a student-run restaurant. We also have a (greenhouse and nursery) on campus that supports the work of our students in our horticulture program, and our cosmetology program where students learn to give haircuts, pedicures, facials, and more. We want people on our campus. We want our community to be a part of our campus.

Usually, when people drive by, they don't see the center of our campus and how beautiful it is. We're an Arbor Foundation tree-recognized campus, but you wouldn't know that unless you walked onto our campus. So we want people here. We are not just the school by the freeway. We want to redirect people and get them to visit the center of our campus where most of our programs take place.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.