FREMONT, Ohio — The Terra State Community College Board of Trustees has named Dr. Chad Breeden interim president, effective Monday, July 20, 2026 — the second person to hold the job since the Fremont college was placed under state fiscal watch this spring.
Breeden succeeds interim president Dr. Cory Stine, who is stepping down July 19 after less than two months in the role. Stine, who has worked at Terra State for more than 20 years, is leaving after accepting a position at another college, board Chair Mircea Handru told WTOL. Breeden takes over the next day.
The college said Breeden brings experience in higher education leadership, governance and strategic planning. He currently serves as vice president of operations for the United States Naval Community College, the federal community college for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He is a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel with more than three decades of leadership experience and holds a doctorate in community college leadership from Ferris State University. The college said he has also served as a university trustee.
“The Board of Trustees is excited to welcome Dr. Breeden to Terra State Community College,” Handru said in the announcement. “His commitment to financial stewardship, enrollment growth, academic excellence, and community engagement aligns strongly with Terra State’s mission.”
Breeden inherits a college working to climb out of fiscal watch. The Ohio Department of Higher Education placed Terra State under the designation on March 23, 2026, following a March 17 recommendation from the Ohio Auditor of State. State officials cited missing annual audits for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, late payments to vendors and flaws in the college’s payment processing, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
Dr. Ronald Schumacher, who had led the college since 2018, resigned effective April 2 — the same day trustees appointed Stine to lead it. The college has up to three years to resolve the problems and end fiscal watch, and is required to submit a financial recovery plan to the state, consult with the auditor on its accounting systems and adopt a mandatory monthly review of its finances.
The college said a campus-wide welcome event and community forum will be held so students, employees and community members can meet Breeden and hear his plans for the college. Additional details are to be announced.
Terra State, located in Fremont, is Sandusky County’s only community college and serves students across the region. It enrolled 1,240 students in fall 2025.
