Bryan Day
President
Bryan Day is the new President of Community HigherEd Institute (CHEI) which includes Community Care College, Clary Sage College and Oklahoma Technical College.
Mr. Day served as the Chief Executive Officer for 17 years at Oklahoma’s largest inpatient / outpatient addiction / behavioral health treatment center. His leadership provided documented competencies to expand services, revenue and the number of employees by 300% during his tenure while successfully maintaining stringent accreditations through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities (ODMHSAS), Joint Commission (JCAHO), and the Commission of Accredited Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Additionally, the organization developed and managed multi-million dollar contracts during his tenure with the Veterans Administration (VA), Native American tribes including the Cherokee Nation, and Muscogee Creek Nation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and many others.
Mr. Day has developed and managed successful collaborative programs with higher education including the University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University (OSU). These included the development of ACGME accredited Addiction Medicine Fellowships and residencies. He has developed and managed public / private community partnerships with both the City of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma designed to improve outcomes, public safety and reduce costs.
Mr. Day has served on multiple Boards, Governance Councils, and community based collaboration initiatives including serving as one of nine founding members of the Alliance of Mental Health Professionals Board of Directors; the Board of Directors of Oklahoma Substance Abuse Service Alliance as the Legislative Chair for the statewide membership; and as Past Chair of the Governance Council, A Way Home for Tulsa including service as the Continuum of Care representative and Tulsa Mayor appointee for the HUD Development Committee Tulsa.
Mr. Day has successfully led and completed multi-million dollar capital campaigns. Additionally, he has raised millions of charitable dollars through grant writing and fundraising events. Mr Day’s leadership history also encompasses over twenty years as the Chief Executive and proven, successful business owner in ‘for profit’ publishing and retail ventures in Oklahoma.
Since 1994, Bryan and his wife, Connie, have lived on the outskirts of Sapulpa, near Pretty Water Lake. They attend First Presbyterian Church in Sapulpa and enjoy traveling to beautiful places, antiquing, attending concerts, and giving back to the community through a wide variety of charities.
Leonda Clements
Campus Director
Leonda Clements has over 25 years of experience working in business and finance. She has a passion for education and its ability to change people’s lives for the better. Leonda has a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and a Masters in Science Management both from Southern Nazarene University. Leonda served as Senior Financial Aid Specialist / School Certifying Official at both Oklahoma Technical College and Community Care College for 12 years prior to being promoted to Campus Director of Oklahoma Technical College. Leonda will continue to serve as the Veteran Coordinator for Community HigherEd, representing our three colleges and our military-connected students throughout the state of Oklahoma. In her spare time, she is active in her church, loves music, reading and enjoys cooking for her family.
Shannon Fargo
Automotive Technology Department Head
Shannon Fargo is from Kellyville, Oklahoma learning the ins and outs of racecars. He attended Lincoln Technical Institute’s Diesel Program. Fargo spent years working for trucking companies before going back to Lincoln Tech to teach. He then went on to teach at Fort Worth Independent School District as an Automotive Instructor before creating a new curriculum and training techs for Peterbilt across 33 states and 4 countries. Fargo taught at North Central Texas College before moving back to Kellyville to lead the Automotive Technology Department at Oklahoma Technical College.
Bob Allen
Diesel Technology Department Head
Bob Allen has over 40 years of experience in the Diesel and Automotive Fields after spending 6 years in the Army during the Vietnam era, he came home to a short term of racing about anything with enough power. His favorite hobby was racing boats ‘Crazy, right? but after his two daughters came along, he decided to quit the fun and settle down. He has held management positions throughout the commercial vehicle industry for more than 35 years and has training as an applications engineer, allowing him to design and build a vehicle from scratch if needed. During his 40-year career, he has designed and built various types of equipment for oil field customers, such as Schlumberger Oil Field Services, an almost 25-year relationship. In his latter 15 years until his retirement in 2009 designed and built armored protected vehicles having the most advanced armor protection. ‘The Golan, ’ a vehicle built in Israel for the IDF, took eleven months of living in Tel Aviv, and he is sure glad his wife was used to such away events. But the most important vehicle built during his career was the MRAP (mine-resistant armor protected) which became the US Military’s armored protected vehicle in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect US warfighters.
He has traveled to many places in the world, exotic and not so exotic, including an adventure to the northern part of Siberia in the winter when it was -45 deg. outside. Memorable, yes, but not his favorite; Israel has that spot in his heart. He has started and incorporated churches, served on boards, and ministered as pastor, bible teacher, and youth pastor. And has written several Christian books. Bob stays as busy writing and blogging as instructing at OTC. He and his wife have two daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and live in Broken Arrow; he enjoys camping with the whole family and, in his spare time, spends it with the grand and great-grandkids.
Kevin Olson
HVAC/R Department Head
Kevin Olson is a second-generation HVAC technician. Kevin started his journey 27 years ago, graduating top of his class at Oxnard College. Kevin has experience in new construction as an installer and became a startup technician, then moved into residential, eventually moving into the commercial side of the business. Along the way, Kevin fell into restaurant refrigeration due to the economy at the time and ended his field run in the commercial and industrial side of the HVAC industry. (chillers, boilers). Kevin enjoys teaching the next generation and giving back to the industry that has provided for his family. Kevin likes to hang out with his family and friends in his spare time with some good barbecue. When everything’s in place and set, he will plug in his guitar and jam to his heart’s content.
Michael Bavuso
Electrical Technology Department Head
Michael Bavuso began his electrical career in the U.S. Navy in San Diego, California in 1973. He attended Electrician’s Mate A School and was assigned to U.S.S. Berkeley DDG-15. He attended Pittsburg State University’s Vocational Electrical Program and earned an associate degree in Electronics from Olympic College. Bavuso received a Certificate of Completion in the Air Conditioning & Heating program at Tulsa Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and a Journeyman Electrician license and his Electrical Contractor License from the state of Oklahoma. He joins Oklahoma Technical College as the Electrical Technology Department Head with 40+ years of experience in the field.
Rod Riggs
Welding Department Head
Rod Riggs has 17 years of experience in the Welding Field and retired from the US Navy after 20 years of service. During his 17 years as a Professional Code Welder, he has worked in multiple Fabrication Shops as well as field welding and most recently worked all over the U.S. as a Cross Country Pipeline/Rig Welder.
Rod has an Associate of Science degree in Welding Technology and Industry
Management from Oklahoma Technical College. He is also an Executive board
member of the Tulsa Section of the American Welding Society. Rod has been at OTC for the past nine years, serving as the Welding Department Head for six of those years.
Rod is from Catoosa. He has identical twin sons who are both serving in the U.S. Army. He is a grandfather with three grandchildren and another on the way. Rod enjoys the outdoors and has a passion for welding even in his spare time.
Loimata (Maka) Tupuola
Financial Aid Specialist and Veterans School Certifying Official
Loimata Tupuola has been working with Community Higher Education for almost a year. She has 9 years of Financial Aid experience before joining our team. Loimata has an Associate’s Degree in Accounting and plans to continue her education in the near future. Loimata comes from a big family with 6 siblings. She is originally from Hawaii but moved around a bit due to her dad being in the military. She enjoys traveling, swimming, and spending time with her family.
Pallavi Agarwal
Chief Financial Officer
Pallavi “Polly” Agarwal serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Community Care College, Clary Sage College, and Oklahoma Technical College. Polly is a true servant leader and loves the college’s CARES culture. Polly has her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting with a major in Accounts/Finance. While pursuing her bachelors, she worked as an intern at a CPA firm for several years. A few years later she earned her Master’s in Business Administration at Oral Roberts University (ORU), Tulsa OK. During her M.B.A. program, she started working at Community Care College as an Accountant, and was then promoted to the Accounting Manager position. Polly has been serving as the CFO of the colleges since January of 2016. Throughout her 10+ years with the colleges Polly has been dedicated to serving others and developing leaders.
