Change of Leadership ahead for Coast Mountain College

Another change at the top is in motion for Coast Mountain College, with President and CEO Justin Kohlman announcing his plans to leave the Northwest this fall, with his compass now pointing Northeast and a similar post in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Coast Mountain College made the announcement on Friday, first highlighting his six years of involvement with the College first as a VP and then noting of his appointment as president and CEO in October of 2019.

Board Chair Nicole Halbauer, outlined the path ahead for the college.

“The Board of Governors of Coast Mountain College will soon begin the recruitment process for a new President and CEO to help CMTN achieve its goal to become the college of choice for experiential, place-based learning. We wish Justin all the best in his next steps of his career."

As the Coast Mountain College advisory was being made public, over in Grande Prairie, college officials  were already putting out the welcome carpet for their new President and CEO, noting of his experience both in International and Domestic situations.

“This appointment marks the culmination of an extensive search for our next President. We were looking for an exceptional post-secondary leader who would elevate our institution and the communities we serve. Justin is this leader. We are delighted to welcome Justin to GPRC and look forward to the many exciting milestones ahead as our polytechnic journey continues to take shape.” -- GPRC Board of Governors Chairperson, Bridget Hennigar. 

During the six years that Mr. Kohlman has been in office, the International footprint for Coast Mountain College has been expanded, both with arrangements with other colleges and universtities outside of Canada's borders, but also as part of an expanded program that has seen a growing number of International students making their way to the northwest and studies at the Terrace, Smithers and Prince Rupert campus locations.

He took on his duties of the last two years following the departure of Ken Burt who stepped down from his post in the summer of 2019

The soon to be former President and CEO does leave with a few things left on the to do list for his successor. 

Among them, the need to develop some kind of student housing for the Prince Rupert campus, which has seen growth in the International student population, but it has been a burst in student numbers that comes without campus housing available for those students and others locally and from across Canada that have chosen Prince Rupert for their post secondary studies.

A look back at some of his time in the Northwest can be found from our Coast Mountain College archive page.