Chris Potts, Ph.D., will be joining the Division of Student Affairs as the PNCA Dean of Students for Community Care and Inclusion. For 15 years Dr. Potts as served as a student affairs professional, consultant, DEI educator, and higher education scholar. He has held positions in a variety of functional areas that have included: counseling, student care & support, student conduct, student life, and residence life. Most recently he has been the Associate Dean of Counseling & Student Support Services at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, and he has also served as the Dean of Student Affairs at Oregon College of Art and Craft, the Director of Student Life and Conduct at National University of Natural Medicine, and an Assistant Director of Residence Life at the University of Oregon.
Dr. Potts is passionate about students and is an advocate for creating trauma-informed spaces where students feel they belong, are welcomed, and matter. His research has focused on anti-deficit perspectives of student success for Black men attending predominantly White community colleges, mentoring experiences of Latinx community college students, and complexion and phenotype in Portland, Oregon.
As a child of military parents, Dr. Potts has lived in a variety of places across the United States and abroad but he considers the Pacific Northwest home. He received his BA in Criminal Justice from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, his MS in Conflict Resolution and Post Graduate Certificate in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Portland State University, and his PhD. in Adult and Higher Education from Oregon State University.
In his free time you can find Dr. Potts spending time with his husband and their two dogs (Lana and Sterling) and cat (Spiral), traveling, taking on new home projects, and enjoying group fitness classes. He will begin his work at PNCA on Tuesday, June 20. Please join us in welcoming Chris to the Willamette community!
