Atlantic Cape Announces Change in Leadership Roles for Atlantic City and Cape May County Campuses

MAYS LANDING—A reassignment of leadership roles at both Atlantic Cape Community College’s Cape May County and Charles D. Worthington Atlantic City campuses was approved at the Atlantic Cape Board of Trustees’ Sept. 26 meeting, retroactive to Aug. 14.
Maria Kellett is assigned to oversee the Cape May County Campus as dean, Cape May County Campus, and associate dean, Resource Development. Kellett will continue to serve as the associate director of the Foundation and be located at the Cape May County Campus.
Donna Vassallo oversees the Atlantic City Campus as dean of the Worthington Atlantic City Campus, and dean, Career Education and Workforce Development. She is located at the Atlantic City Campus.
As campus deans, they provide oversight for the operations of their respective facilities, and serve as the lead college contact with the business sector and community-based organizations. This strategy allows the college to more effectively support its mission, programs and services to increase student success at all three campuses.
Kellett, a Cape May County resident, has been employed at Atlantic Cape for nearly 10 years and stationed at the Cape May County Campus where she served as senior director of Resource Development, Community and Alumni Outreach and associate director of the Foundation. Prior to joining Atlantic Cape, she was the director of development for the Wetlands Institute has spent most of her professional career working for local and national nonprofit organizations
Vassallo, a 1985 alumna of Atlantic Cape, joined the college in 2003 and rose from the rank of instructor to associate professor. In 2006 she was named the dean of Career Education, responsible for Nursing and Allied Health and other career focused credit programs as well as oversight of Workforce Development. Ms. Vassallo served in the casino industry as director of Recruitment and Staffing at the Claridge Casino Hotel for 10 years.
In regards to the reorganization of these leadership roles at the branch campuses, Dr. Barbara Gaba, president, stated, “The branch campuses will now have the full-time presence of a senior member of my leadership team. They will focus on ensuring that the courses/programs offered at their respective campus are relevant to the community. Our community partnerships are vital so the new campus deans will work closely with business and community leaders to best serve the needs of our students.”