2025 National Pacesetter
Todd Haynie
President
Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ
Todd Haynie’s path to the college presidency has been, in his words, nontraditional. It wasn’t part of the plan, wasn’t his career goal.
But sometimes, successes are about saying “yes” to opportunities.
Haynie, president at Eastern Arizona College (EA), is NCMPR’s 2025 Pacesetter of the Year winner. The award honors a community college president or CEO who has demonstrated special leadership and support in college communications and marketing.
Haynie not only knows college marcom, but he knows the EA community: He’s an EA alum, and his undergrad is in film and television. After graduation, he worked at a publishing house, developing K-12 educational videos. He worked in EA’s admissions office for three years, and then he was encouraged to apply to be the college’s director of marketing and PR, where he served for 15 years.
In that role, Haynie says, he spent a lot of time with the college president – time on the road, at the state legislature, developing stories around the institution with the president’s input.
“So when he announced his retirement, he came to me and said, ‘Todd, I think you ought to apply for the job,’” said Haynie, which surprised him – he’d figured he’d retire from his marketing role. Then a few members of EA’s five-member board of directors asked him to apply for the role, too. “So I thought, ‘Well, shoot. If the outgoing president is recommending that I do this, and I’ve got two of five board members suggesting that I should apply, I probably ought to apply.”
The college held a national search, and Haynie competed against applicants from around the country and internally. He was selected, and he’s been EA’s president since May 2018.
His experience with EA’s marketing and PR office has only helped Haynie in his role.
“For me, the president is the chief marketing officer, the chief communications officer, the chief public relations officer of the institution,” he says. “I’m on the front lines of the legislature, on the front lines of the community, the front lines with the governing board, our own employees, our staff, our students. I recognize the value of telling the authentic story of the college.”
That POV only elevates the college’s marketing efforts, says Kris McBride, EA’s marketing and PR director.
“His understanding of what it takes to create impactful marketing materials is unmatched,” McBride wrote in Haynie’s nomination form. “Plus, there’s no one better at crafting videos or connecting with an audience. His delivery is spot-on, always surpassing anything we can script.”
For presidents who don’t have that type of understanding of their marketing office, Haynie suggests looking at it all as an investment. It’s about laying a foundation that will develop, and the dollars you invest are the stories you tell – so prioritize developing a relationship with the marketing office.
“They’re not just some office that’s stuck over on the other side of campus and they do their thing,” he says. “You have to work closely with that marketing and public relations team for them to be successful. Then you’ll be successful as a president, and your institution will be successful.”