The investiture for Diana Morris Watkins, the 15th president for Northern Oklahoma College, will be held Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in the Kinzer Performing Arts Center on the Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa campus at 3 p.m.Watkins assumed the NOC presidency on June 1, 2024.“This ceremony is a chance to celebrate the rich traditions of Northern Oklahoma College and to honor the incredible leaders who have held this role prior to the NOC Board of Regents entrusting it to me,” Watkins said. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to lead our outstanding faculty, staff and executive team as we seek to provide Life Changing opportunities for students and help develop them into effective learners and leaders who will make positive contributions to Oklahoma’s workforce.”Diana Morris Watkins became the 15th President of Northern Oklahoma College on June 1, 2024.She began her career in education teaching high school English in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Her move to post-secondary education came in 2000 when she joined the Oklahoma State University Honors Program, now Honors College, as an academic counselor before spending four years as an “early childhood educator,” taking on the role of full-time mom until her daughter began pre-K.Watkins’s tenure at NOC began as an Adjunct Instructor in the Language Arts Department on the Stillwater campus in 2005. In 2007 she was named the Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Member for NOC Stillwater. After joining the Language Arts Department full-time in 2007, she was named the Distinguished Faculty Member for NOC Stillwater in 2009.In 2019 she made the move to administration, taking on the role of Vice President for the Stillwater campus, which houses the NOC/OSU Gateway Program. In 2022 she was named Vice President for Academic Affairs for Northern. Extremely passionate about student success, Watkins served on the task force that developed NOC’s First-Generation Mentor Program, a program designed to assist students who are the first in their families to attend college. She has presented at numerous conferences, including the National Association of Developmental Education Conference and the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference. Watkins currently serves on the Oklahoma State Regents’ Campus Safety & Security Task Force.A proud graduate of Perry High School, she went on to earn an Honors Program Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary English Education from Oklahoma State University where she also earned her Master’s Degree in Teaching Learning and Leadership and is currently a doctoral student in Higher Education and Student Affairs.Watkins ...
