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Dr. Dale McInnis, president emeritus of Richmond Community College, was recently awarded the 2025 I.E. Ready Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS).
McInnis’ career spans across several institutions and positions, having served as president of Richmond for the last 14 years. If you asked McInnis some 30 odd years ago where his career would take him, community college president wouldn’t have made the list.
Looking back
McInnis graduated high school and enrolled at North Carolina State University. After four major changes and two years of fun, it was time to regroup. The reset led him to Sandhills Community College, a place that helped him get his bearings and figure out what he wanted to do in life.
Working his way through school, first as a loader and then supervisor for UPS, McInnis earned a bachelor’s degree in business. While pursuing an MBA, McInnis had to change jobs because his position at UPS didn’t align with his school schedule. He worked retail at Lowes as a customer service manager for almost two years before eventually landing a teaching role at Montgomery Community College.
“I think I was the third person they offered the job to at Montgomery,” McInnis joked. “I started the week classes started and had about three days to prepare.”
McInnis calls it a lucky opportunity because it was the job that would eventually put him in the president’s office.
Being thrown in the deep end
With one year of teaching under his belt, McInnis stepped into the role of CFO at Montgomery.
The shift from instructor to handling the college’s finances was nothing short of fortuitous.
Montgomery’s interim CFO had been the college’s accounting instructor before being moved into the CFO’s office. The guy hated the job, McInnis said, and hated it so much that he threatened to leave the college if they didn’t let him teach again.
“And, well, I was in his classroom,” McInnis said.
It wasn’t easy being thrown in the deep end and having only ever had a few accounting classes, he said.
“But I was young enough and dumb enough to not know any better,” McInnis said.
He credits patient and positive mentors for helping him learn the ropes.
‘Always look for a solution, not problems‘
In 2002, McInnis moved to Richmond Community College, taking on the role of vice president for administration and CFO. By 2011, McInnis was named Richmond’s seventh president.
He never intended to be a community college president when he started at Montgomery, he said. McInnis thought it would be a temporary gig, and he would leave the college system when he landed a corporate job. But somewhere between teaching and chief financial officer, McInnis realized he was exactly where he needed to be.
“This whole business is like solving a puzzle,” McInnis said. “And I’ve always been good at puzzles.”
Growing up, McInnis was taught to have a strong work ethic and to always look for a solution, not problems – something he said his parents helped nurture on the family farm in rural North Carolina. Those same principles have served him well throughout his career.
The breadth and depth of who community colleges serve is a blessing and a curse, McInnis said. It is a huge responsibility and challenge, but it also means they can be the most creative and nimble in how they approach the work.
“We get to do things nobody else can dream of doing,” McInnis said. “Our only limitations are our imaginations and our resources.”
Leaving a legacy
McInnis is often referred to as the architect of Propel NC, a new modernized funding model for the system that would better align with workforce demands, economic growth, and operational needs. If Propel NC passes the legislature, leaders say it has the potential to bring the most significant financial shift to the system in decades.
When asked about being dubbed the architect, McInnis paused.
He doesn’t like taking credit for it, even though he drew up the plan and initiated it. It’s not false modesty, he said.
“To get it across the finish line, it took a lot of people tag teaming,” McInnis said. “There are too many other hands involved that made it a success.”
What McInnis will offer though is that he knows how to plan and map things out so that something is clear and makes sense. Reflecting back, he said he was resilient and determined — changing the funding model is something McInnis has been working on for many years, before Propel NC had a name.
But Propel NC isn’t the only thing McInnis has helped shepherd along the way.
In a system press release, McInnis is lauded as being a driving force in workforce education and strategic partnerships that have shaped the future of community colleges across the state. McInnis led regional workforce initiatives, including Sandhills Regional Healthcare Economic Gap Analysis, which ultimately brought together eight colleges across 10 counties to strengthen the health care training pipeline.
McInnis also played a pivotal role in expanding workforce programs in high-demand sectors like cybersecurity, electric utility substation technology, CDL training, and telecommunicator certification.
Though McInnis may be reluctant to talk about his accomplishments, his colleagues were not shy about discussing the impact McInnis has had throughout his career.
“Our system, state, and communities are better as a result of his work,” Dr. Laura Leatherword, president of Blue Ridge Community College, said. “His achievements in professional experience, state-level service, involvement in professional associations, and civic activities demonstrate a remarkable dedication to improving the educational landscape in North Carolina.”
McInnis has also served as a mentor for many new community college presidents.
Before Dr. Sandy Stewart was officially on the job at Sandhills Community College, he was counseled to go see Dale.
“I had only met him once before, but when I sat down in his office, he had prepared four handwritten pages of notes for me about things I would need to know, be on the lookout for, and strategically consider,” Stewart said. “He never told me what to do, but instead, showed me where the paths could lead.”
Stewart shared that McInnis is a wealth of knowledge. But most importantly, he is a true public servant, passionate about helping people succeed and improving the lives of all North Carolinians.
When asked if McInnis had any student stories that were particularly important to him, he said there were too many to name. He said seeing the power of early colleges, how they work, and how they transform students has been incredible, especially when there was a lot of skepticism about early colleges in the beginning.
“I’ve seen a student that was so shy and withdrawn that he couldn’t look you in the eye or speak up,” McInnis said. “By the time he graduated, he was the president of the SGA, speaking at graduation, and had almost a full scholarship to N.C. State.”
Some of his favorite stories are from students who go through short-term training programs – students who maybe just got out of prison or borrowed the money to pay for a truck driving class.
“They are able to turn their lives around in a matter of weeks,” McInnis said.
And there are other students who enter college with a lot of obstacles in front of them.
One former student struggled to stay enrolled after brain surgery. It eventually became too much, and the student needed to push pause on her education for a few years. During her time away, pallet art was her therapy. And when she came back to school, she brought McInnis a piece that she’d created.
“I don’ t know what I said to her,” McInnis commented. “But I said something to her once upon a time that registered with her.”
McInnis now has the art piece hanging as a reminder that you never know the impact your words may have on someone’s life.
Gratitude and looking ahead
McInnis is a firm believer in the North Carolina Community College System.
“I believe in our system of colleges, and I think we need a strong system and systemic approach that respects the local communities and their needs,” McInnis said. “But we are stronger together than apart, and having that system is an asset that our state has no substitute for.”
As for receiving the I.E. Ready Lifetime Achievement award, McInnis said he is honored and humbled, particularly when he looks at all those who have won in the past. And he was abundantly clear that it’s the people along the way, the people that he has worked with over the years and the students, that have helped him get to where he is today.
His advice to future community college presidents is to be brave enough to learn.
“Be comfortable being uncomfortable,” McInnis said. “Figure out the things you’re not good at and master them, and be humble enough to ask questions.”
What’s next for Dr. Dale McInnis?
He’s on to his next puzzle. After what McInnis calls his six hours of retirement, on Oct. 31, 2024, McInnis joined the O’Neal School in Southern Pines as Head of School.
McInnis, along with the other 2025 excellence awards winners, will be honored at a celebration dinner on April 3, 2025.
