Dr. Heather Knight is new to Pacific Union College, but that’s not keeping the recently appointed president of the college from getting to work increasing student enrollment and reaching out to others in Napa County.

Most recently, the provost of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., Knight also spent 18 years at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where she was an English professor, then assistant and associate provost. During her time at Andrews, Knight had a hand in the university’s budgetary, planning, enrollment and accreditation processes.

“I learned a lot about higher education,” Knight said, adding that “improving town-gown relationships” and “fueling economic development in the region” are among her goals as PUC’s new president.

Citing the Angwin campus’ “high-caliber, individualized learning environment” as playing a major role in drawing her to PUC, Knight’s current and former colleagues say she brings much to the post in which she replaces Dr. Richard Osborn.

“Dr. Knight comes to Pacific Union College with over 20 years of experience in higher education and a deep respect from the higher education community,” Dr. Ricardo Graham, PUC’s board chairman and president of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said. “From her work at the University of the Pacific to Andrews University, Dr. Knight has a proven track record of leading institutions to success, and we are thrilled to have her at PUC.”

When it comes to leading PUC, Knight — who is the campus’ first female president and first black president — plans to market the college in St. Helena and other surrounding areas, where first-time college students might want to avoid straying far from home. Also in the works are Knight’s efforts to strengthen PUC’s ties with local residents by sponsoring public concerts, special presentations and prioritizing “giving back to the community” in other ways.

Determined to make PUC what she calls a “destination campus,” Knight said the college is recovering slowly from a years-long decline in enrollment. Now at 1,511 students, she said, enrollment at Pacific Union is up about 11 percent from last year, a trend Knight intends to foster.

Knight also has her eye on student retention rates. This academic year, about 79 percent of last year’s freshmen are continuing their studies at PUC, she said. While that’s a respectable figure, she said, the figure leaves room for improvement.

Knight said her strengths lie in increasing enrollment and helping to turn campuses around economically. She plans to do both at PUC, where she said there are tentative plans this year to implement 10 furlough days because of budget challenges.

However, Knight said PUC stands to be positioned well in spite of this, partly because the campus — unlike those the University of California system — is still accepting transfer students. More of the Christian liberal arts campus’ strengths include “very individualized teaching” thanks to student-faculty ratios of        12-to-1, she said, also citing PUC’s strong pre-med, pre-dental and nursing programs.

“I think we have quite a bit to market,” Knight said.

Dr. Philip Gilbertson, provost at University of the Pacific and Knight’s former colleague, said Knight “understands how to move a university ahead.”

“She saw the whole picture, the need to have faculty engaged and energized, evaluate programs carefully, recognize the importance of fundraising and increase student enrollment,” he said.

Gilbertson said Knight also oversaw a major grant proposal for the James Irvine Foundation — a private state institution — that netted the University of the Pacific about $1 million over three years.

Dr. Robert Benedetti, the University of the Pacific’s Dean Emeritus of the college of arts and sciences, said Knight’s versatile negotiating talents made her an asset.

“There’s the public presentation side of her and the more quiet, negotiating policy-making side. Taken together, they make her very effective,” he said.

Benedetti added that Knight has an understanding of “both secular and denominational education and is sensitive to (the) religious calling, but also to rigorous academic standards.”

Knight’s career, he said, has included leadership positions at both secular and Seventh-day Adventist campuses.

“That she has with ease moved back and forth throughout her career is extraordinary,” he said.

In her family life, Knight and her husband, Dr. Norman Knight — a professor and outreach chaplain who teaches others how to become preachers — lead a blended family and are the proud parents of eight grown children, including five men and three women. The pair’s youngest child is 18 and the oldest is 33.