Dr. LaPanne has recently served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire. During the eleven years prior, she had served as the Associate Commissioner for Finance and Management for the Rhode Island Board of Education.
In addition to her most recent roles for the Rhode Island Board and for Keene State College, Dr. LaPanne has a rich professional history in financial affairs leadership. Her career has included leading teams in several roles, including budget/accounting manager, chief financial officer, and vice president of finance in the healthcare and education sectors. Dr. LaPanne also served as a full-time, tenure-track faculty member of the Accounting Department at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Her experience in the community college setting has inspired her passion for associate and technical education, which is the mission of John A. Logan College.
Dr. LaPanne earned her BA in Psychology and English Literature from Mount Holyoke College. She was a first-generation college student who benefited from the academic support in her undergraduate programs and deeply understood the challenges of first-generation students. She continued her education with a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island and her doctoral degree in Organization and Management from Capella University.
Dr. Stephanie Chaney Hartford is a collegiate-level administrator and educator with more than 25 years of experience. She has held a variety of positions in both academic affairs and student services. In 2023, she was selected to serve as the College’s Provost, which provides oversight to Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and the Child Care Resource & Referral center. Prior to this role, she served as Assistant Provost of Academic Affairs. In this role, Dr. Hartford was responsible for the College’s transfer and career and technical education programs, workforce education, community education, adult basic education, alternative secondary education, and the learning resources to support these programs. Dr. Hartford champions student success and strives to deliver excellent educational programs that best serve students and the College’s district.
Dr. Hartford has also served as the Department Chair of Humanities and Fine Arts and Professor of Communication. For 16 years, Dr. Hartford was a fulltime faculty member and had the privilege of teaching hundreds of students, many of whom took her public speaking courses. She was also highly involved with students while serving as the department’s academic advisor.
Throughout her time at the College, she served on numerous committees including the Higher Learning Commission Accreditation team, strategic planning, assessment, curriculum and instruction, online assessment team, strategic enrollment planning, behavior intervention team, master facility planning, integrative technology, scholarship committee, and more. She also served on several contract negotiating teams.
In addition to her academic experience, Dr. Hartford held several positions in student services. Areas include academic advising, new student orientation, non-traditional student services, early alert system, career services, admissions, and the Foundation.
Dr. Hartford earned a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in speech communication with a specialization in organizational communication. Additionally, she holds a M.S. Ed. with a specialization in college student personnel, and her bachelor’s degree is in public relations. Finally, Dr. Hartford is a proud graduate of Southeastern Illinois Community College where she was a scholarship member of its nationally recognized competitive speech team.
Dr. Hartford resides in Carterville with her husband of 30 years, Jeff Hartford, and she is the mother of two children, Anna Hartford, and Nolan Hartford.