Steve Ward

Steve began serving as interim vice president of Administrative Services and Finance in November 2025 and now serves as the college's financial consultant. In this role, Steve provides guidance on higher education administrative issues, enrollment management, real estate, strategic planning, budgets, and special projects.

 

Steve is the owner of Ward Higher Education Consulting, LLC, where he works with nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and government entities in Washington and Oregon on capital project management, financial statement analysis, and operational and strategic planning. He recently served under contract with the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) on an Allocation Review Model Taskforce, whose recommendations were approved with modifications by the State Board of Trustees in October 2025.

 

He has also served with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) as a peer evaluator, trainer for new peer evaluators with an emphasis on higher education finance, Finance Committee member, and Financial Review Committee member.

 

Steve has more than 30 years of experience in higher education administration and auditing. He served at Centralia College as vice president of Finance and Administration and executive director of the Foundation. Prior to Centralia, he was assistant comptroller at Northern Arizona University, controller at the University of Puget Sound, and an auditing staff member at Knight, Vale, and Gregory.