THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220370
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 42 lines
J. Parker Chesson, longtime president of the College of The Albemarle at Elizabeth City, was named chairman of the North Carolina Employment Security Commission Wednesday.
``Parker Chesson's years of experience as a leader in the Department of Community Colleges have given him a deep understanding of North Carolina's work force,'' said Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.
Chesson, 55, has been executive vice president and vice president for planning and research for the Department of Community Colleges in Raleigh since 1992.
His elevation to be head of the Employment Security Commission on Oct. 1 sets up Chesson in a relatively bulletproof position of great trust and backstage influence in state government.
``He will be a tremendous force in making the Employment Security Commission one of our state's most efficient agencies,'' Hunt said.
Chesson, who will make $75,000 a year, said he felt he would move comfortably into his new job.
``The Employment Security Commission, like our community college system, has many different statewide offices that shape our work force and our future,'' Chesson said.
Through counseling, testing, interviewing, job development and referrals, the Employment Security Commission finds and provides jobs and placement services in North Carolina.
Chesson, a native of Hertford, received his doctorate from North Carolina State University in 1974 and graduated from East Carolina University.
Chesson took over as president of the newly established College of The Albemarle in 1975, at age 34. He faced problems that were to challenge him during his first years in office.
Many town supporters of COA hoped to instill an Ivy League atmosphere at the community college, but Chesson, firmly but quietly, was determined to provide at COA the kind of education he felt would be useful to hands-on workers sought by employers.
For the first 10 years of his tenure, Chesson struggled but kept COA on course as a two-year college serving a community workplace. by CNB