Claremont college president abruptly leaves

After less than three weeks on the job, Cheryl Groeneveld has stepped down as president of New Hampshire Community Technical College in Claremont.

“She indicated only that it was for personal reasons,” Shannon Reid, director of communications at the New Hampshire Community Technical College System, told NHBR Daily, also noting that the resignation came as a surprise to system officials.

The Claremont Eagle-Times reported on Thursday that Groeneveld will return to her home in Massachusetts.

Harvey Hill, owner and publisher of the Eagle-Times, will serve as interim president. Hill had served in that same position for almost a year until this past July 8, the day before Groeneveld took over the job.

Groeneveld was the college’s first full-time president since September 2005, when the NHCTC system’s Claremont and Nashua campuses, which had shared a president previously, were uncoupled.

At the time of her appointment, NHCTC system officials had expressed enthusiasm for Groeneveld’s appointment.

“Dr. Groeneveld demonstrated a strong background and a real commitment to the future of the college,” Dr. William Simonton, recently retired commissioner of the NHCTC system, said in a May press release announcing Groeneveld’s hiring.

She was previously a vice president at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. – JUSSIE MARTIN