CMC Board of Trustees announces Dr. Matt Gianneschi as sole finalist for college president and chief executive officer

April 15, 2024 – The Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees has named Dr. Matt Gianneschi, the college’s long-serving chief operating officer, as the sole finalist for CMC’s next president and chief executive officer. Dr. Gianneschi has served alongside Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, the college’s current president, for 10 years. Hauser, the longest serving president in CMC history, recently announced that she was stepping down from her role this August.

Because of the strength and stability of CMC’s faculty and staff, trustees elected to conduct an internal search for the next college leader. The position was open for applications from March 27 – April 5. During that period, trustees also opened a survey to community members, students, alumni, faculty and staff in English and Spanish. Trustees carefully reviewed and considered feedback from more than 400 respondents.

Trustees interviewed Gianneschi on Monday, April 15, during an executive session, and then, after careful deliberation and discussion, voted unanimously to appoint him as the sole finalist for the position. The board will formally appoint Gianneschi to the new role in a board meeting on April 29. Over the next several weeks, the board will solidify the details of the presidential transition.

“There is absolutely no-one more prepared to assume this vital leadership role serving our mountain communities than Dr. Gianneschi, who has been an integral partner with President Hauser for a decade of major accomplishments at CMC, including developing the newly launched Mountain Futures strategic plan,” said Board of Trustees President Peg Portscheller. “We believe that CMC’s students, faculty, staff and communities will be best served by having Dr. Gianneschi execute the strategic plan that he so carefully helped draft with faculty, staff, student and community input.”

Portscheller continued, “Thanks to Dr. Gianneschi’s passionate vision and leadership in partnership with President Hauser, CMC’s Hispanic and Latino enrollment has nearly doubled from around 15% when he started at CMC to nearly 30% today. He also championed the dramatic expansion of concurrent enrollment offerings in our local high schools, creating a pathway to a degree for thousands of high school students, many of whom were first generation college students.”

Trustees applauded Gianneschi’s work authoring legislation and policies enabling the college to launch programs like Fund Sueños—which supports DACA and undocumented students—stabilize funding for CMC and support rural K-12 teachers to help them afford to teach in the college’s mountain communities.

“Dr. Gianneschi clearly understands the challenges that higher education faces and CMC’s unique position to navigate these headwinds successfully,” Portscheller said. “The board is confident in his ability to provide bold, strategic and compassionate leadership for the college at a pivotal time for higher education.”

Gianneschi grew up in Denver, graduating from Manual High School and the University of Denver, before beginning his career in higher education as an admissions representative while pursuing a master’s degree in history at DU. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in higher education at the University of Arizona while working his way into increasingly impactful professional roles. He was part of the inaugural class of a presidential fellowship offered by the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program in collaboration with Stanford University. Among his many leadership positions, Gianneschi worked in education policy roles during the administrations of three Colorado governors, including as deputy executive director and chief academic officer of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. President Hauser hired Gianneschi to CMC in 2014 and, together, the two have worked to improve student outcomes, add bachelor’s degrees, enhance institutional diversity, focus on equity and inclusion, increase faculty and employee satisfaction and engagement and stabilize institutional funding. Their efforts also resulted in the addition of Salida and Poncha Springs to the CMC district, and nearly $90 million in capital improvements to the college’s 11 campus locations.

“I am honored and humbled by the Trustees’ decision to offer this very special position to me,” Gianneschi said. “I care deeply about our students, faculty, staff and the mountain communities we serve. And, while the president is only one person, after ten years leading the college’s operations in a principled, collaborative and transparent manner, I believe that I understand how to guide CMC toward achieving its strategic commitments to equity, care, innovation and integrity.”

Current CMC President Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser applauded the board’s decision. “Dr. Gianneschi has spent his entire career preparing for this role,” she said. “Speaking from experience, it’s an incredibly demanding and meaningful job, one that requires boundless energy and a passion for our students and mountain communities. The board could not have chosen a more qualified person for the position.”