Matamoras mayor takes helm at Sussex County Community College

Last month, Matamoras Mayor Cory Homer was named interim president at Sussex County Community College (SCCC) in Newton, N.J., after a unanimous vote by the college’s board of trustees.

For Homer, 34, this marks the high point of an 11-year stint at the college.

“I would love to move into the permanent role, but at the moment my priorities are to improve overall communication and bring stability to the college while leading SCCC forward,” said the Matamoras native who has a PhD in psychology from Grand Canyon University.

Homer’s promotion to interim president followed former SCCC president Jon Connolly’s resignation amid allegations from some in the campus community that Connolly used intimidation tactics and questionable budgetary practices as president during the past year or so. Connolly has repeatedly denied those allegations.

“Despite everything that has been going on, this is actually a great time to be on campus,” said Homer, who oversees a campus of approximately 3,300 students, 165 of which hail from Pike County. “Staff morale is fantastic, programming is going well and enrollment is up. We have just opened new capital facilities projects. We are breaking ground on a new optics technology center for optics manufacturing with Thor Labs and renovating the library and building a learning commons. We are finishing the adult transition center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and have begun an exploratory environmental [study] on the expansion of the health science building for a new health science program to support Newton Memorial Hospital.”

The presidency is not the only leadership position that has changed recently at SCCC. The college has new board of trustees chair, Herb Yardley, who says he is happy to have Homer at the helm.

“Cory is innovative, creative and putting in a lot of hours, providing a lot of information to the board,” Yardley said. “Thus far, I think is doing a great job.”

Homer’s day doesn’t begin on his 35-minute commute to Newton. Instead, it begins in Tiffany’s Coffee Shop which he and his wife, Tiffany, own in Matamoras.

“I wake up at 3:30 a.m., get to the coffee shop around 4:30 and begin roasting coffee while trying to catch up on work emails,” said the father of three. “We have a lot of faculty, students and staff who visit the coffee shop, which is nice.”

The common trait in Homer’s endeavors – including his role as dive captain and vice president at Westfall Township Volunteer Fire Department – is his ability to lead.

“I like bringing teams of people together to accomplish things and that is perfect for the president’s spot,” said Homer, who previously served as vice president of student success and institutional effectiveness. “We have strong social sciences and humanities at the college as well as our technical trades. We are also doing more in engineering and robotics as of late. In many areas, computer science for example, I think community colleges are better positioned than four-year colleges because of how fast technology changes. At the end of four years, it is so different than when you started. At a community college, you get to turnover that curriculum on a dime based on the labor market. One of our prime focuses is to ensure there is always a skilled workforce in the county.”