Diverse, VA
10-25-07
Iowa State Conference To Focus On Community College Leadership
by David Pluviose
Filling the leadership voids created by the mass retirements of a generation of
baby boomer presidents is the focus of a conference hosted by Iowa State
University next week. Faculty from ISU’s Community College Leadership
Program have organized the “Education Practice in Leadership: Transforming
Community Colleges Conference,” which will be held in Kansas City, Mo., Oct.
28-30.
Numerous conference sessions will touch on themes of diversity, as ISU College
of Human Sciences spokesperson Cathy Curtis says community colleges are
a key resource for ISU to boost not only the diversity of ISU students, but Iowa as
a whole.
“We consider community colleges an integral part of the higher education
package, they are as important to the four-year schools as they are to each
state’s economies,” Curtis says.
“Community colleges are a real opportunity to increase diversity in higher
education because they’re more accessible, they’re more affordable, and many
of our students of color start college at community colleges. So they provide
great opportunities for diversifying our professions,” she adds.
According to Dr. Larry Ebbers, university professor of higher education in
ISU’s department of educational leadership and policy studies, the
conference has registered about 250 community college leaders from across the
nation, including officials from all 15 Iowa community colleges, as well as a
numerous officials from neighboring midwestern states.
Some of these attendees have graduated from ISU’s Leadership Institute for a
New Century and Community College Leadership Initiative Consortium
programs, which Ebbers founded.
“We know that half of community college presidents are going to retire within the
next three years. Our role is to help prepare the next generation of leaders,”
Ebbers says. “Through this conference, we’re trying to establish Iowa State as
the institution in the Midwest that’s responsible for community college
leadership,” he adds.
Conference sessions will address key community college leadership issues such
as undocumented students, using research to inform best-policy practices,
accountability in higher education and diversity and social justice. For more
information and a complete conference program, visit
www.cclp.hs.iastate.edu/conference07/homepage.html.