GCC's New Vice President of Academic Affairs

Please congratulate Dr. Lorelei (Lore) Konopka on her selection as GCC’s permanent Vice President of Academic Affairs. Dr. Konopka has been serving as the Interim VPAA since September 2022. Dr. Konopka has more than 17 years of higher education leadership experience. Her dedication to creating a culture of collaboration and inclusion through a shared governance framework contributed to her selection for this important role.

Before taking on the Interim VPAA role, she was the Senior Associate Vice President of GCC North and Institutional Effectiveness. Previously, Dr. Konopka held leadership roles as Interim Dean of Instruction and the GCC Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) for the Higher Learning Commission. Before joining Maricopa County Community College District in 2017, Dr. Konopka spent 12 years as a faculty leader including seven years as an academic department chair.  

Thanks go to all who served on the hiring committee, to Drs. Jennifer Lane and Karina Sokol-Tinsley for their leadership, and to everyone across the college for investing your time to engage with each candidate during our forums. Your feedback was critical in guiding this decision.  

 Dr. Konopka will begin this new role on July 1, 2024.