A new leader will take the helm at Southern Maine Community College next month. The Maine Community College System board of trustees has appointed Kristen Miller as the college’s new president.

Miller will take over for Tiffanie Bentley, who has served as the school’s interim president since August. Bentley took on the role after Joe Cassidy left to become the president of Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.

Miller is currently the vice president of academic affairs at White Mountains Community College in New Hampshire, where she has worked since 2014. She also has been a lecturer in education at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, an adjunct professor of English at White Mountains Community College and a high school English teacher.

“Dr. Miller is the right person at the right time to lead SMCC,” Maine Community College System President David Daigler said in a statement. She is “an outstanding choice who is well-prepared to continue the strong forward momentum at Southern Maine Community College,” Daigler said.

Miller has a doctorate in higher education from Capella University in Minnesota, a master’s degree in education and education leadership from the University of New England, and a bachelor’s degree in communications and English from Sonoma State University in California.

She was selected from a field of over 50 candidates, the system said.

“It is an honor and a privilege to join this remarkable institution, and I am truly humbled by the trust placed in me by President Daigler and the board of trustees,” Miller said in a statement. “I assure you that I am fully committed to upholding the values of academic excellence, inclusivity and innovation that define this college.”