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CONFERENCE FEATURE
someone with the courage and grit to earn an education under We hear much about the myriad of challenges and opportunities
these circumstances forged for me the basis of my work. I said that our colleges grapple with on a daily basis. What keeps you up at
I wanted to help others and this was exactly what I was able night? Perhaps given a magic wand, what one thing would you most
to do. Tis was the beginning for my work in education. Not like to fx?
waiting for someone to show me the way, but doing what I I guess the one thing that keeps me up at night would be
needed to do to help another person realize her dream. I am responding to the needs of our students. Are we doing all
happy to say that she did earn her GED and it was one of the we can to help them be successful? Are we providing the
most infuential experiences I have had in my career. I knew I right solutions given the state and federal policies, rules, and
was in the right feld. guidelines? Students come to higher education because they
Sharon, you demonstrate a path of progressive leadership roles in want a better life. Tey want to obtain a good paying job so
a college environment flled with complexity. What motivates you to they can support themselves and their families. Tey want to
pursue this path? be contributing members of their communities and our overall
It is very easy to become complacent and just do one job. society. It is our job to help them reach that goal. I don’t believe
However, one must be willing to take advantage of opportunities anyone comes to college wanting to fail. I want to do all I can to
when they are presented. Ofentimes I have found myself help them achieve their goals.
volunteering to take on a leadership role either at work or with Te one thing I would most like to fx is having students
my community service organizations. Sometimes you must be come to higher education prepared. I think we should be
willing to step out of your comfort zone to get the job done that working toward the end of “developmental” (or as some call
is imperative to the goals of the organization. If you are open to it “remedial”) education. We need to be REALLY working
learning all the time, then you must put those things that you with the K-12 schools to ensure students learn what they need
learn into action; this means that you take on more responsibility to enter higher education. I don’t believe we communicate
and more responsibility means providing leadership. and cooperatively work enough with these schools to ensure
students learn the necessary information to enter higher
education. We do some work with schools, but we could do a lot
more. Tere is not enough funding to go around and until we
work together, we will continue to have fnancial strain for K-12
and for higher education.
Looking “beyond the horizon” is a key attribute for any senior
leader. What challenges and/or opportunities do you foresee for
colleges in the coming years?
Community colleges have done a good job of doing more with
less over the years. Funding will continue to be a challenge for
community colleges. We need to form partnerships with K-12
and with four-year universities to help students obtain their
degrees. We need to continue to use technology in the learning
process. We have to help our faculty gain the necessary skills to
use technology as a tool in the educational process. We need to
help our educators be open to new ways of providing education;
such as competency-based, problem-based, and contextualized
learning. But, most of all, we need faculty, student services,
and staf to work as a team! All of these areas are necessary
components of the educational experience of our students. We
must work together. As they say “It takes a village to raise a
child;” it takes the college community to educate a student!
Refecting on leadership philosophy, what leader/philosophy do you
aspire to emulate?
Tis year Sandy Shugart spoke at the 25th International
Conference. I have heard him several times and even invited
him and his team to speak at one of the earlier Student Success
Summer Institutes that I organized for our district. One of the
messages that he delivers is about believing that all students
can learn. Tat is the basis of where we begin our work. Tis
resonated with me and I have never forgotten this message.
Tis is my foundational belief. As I said earlier, no one wants
to come to college to fail. My colleagues and our staf members
want to do good work. In this job, students are not successful
by themselves. It takes a team/group efort to help our students
14 LEADERSHIP Vol. 22.1 Spring/Summer 2016
Client: The Chair Academy Job: Leadership_Journal_22.1 SPRING/SUMMER 2016 Final size: 8.5” x 11” Colors: CMYK Bleeds: Yes
Created by: Goldfsh Creative - Laura Dvir • 602.349.2220 • goldfshcreates@q.com
someone with the courage and grit to earn an education under We hear much about the myriad of challenges and opportunities
these circumstances forged for me the basis of my work. I said that our colleges grapple with on a daily basis. What keeps you up at
I wanted to help others and this was exactly what I was able night? Perhaps given a magic wand, what one thing would you most
to do. Tis was the beginning for my work in education. Not like to fx?
waiting for someone to show me the way, but doing what I I guess the one thing that keeps me up at night would be
needed to do to help another person realize her dream. I am responding to the needs of our students. Are we doing all
happy to say that she did earn her GED and it was one of the we can to help them be successful? Are we providing the
most infuential experiences I have had in my career. I knew I right solutions given the state and federal policies, rules, and
was in the right feld. guidelines? Students come to higher education because they
Sharon, you demonstrate a path of progressive leadership roles in want a better life. Tey want to obtain a good paying job so
a college environment flled with complexity. What motivates you to they can support themselves and their families. Tey want to
pursue this path? be contributing members of their communities and our overall
It is very easy to become complacent and just do one job. society. It is our job to help them reach that goal. I don’t believe
However, one must be willing to take advantage of opportunities anyone comes to college wanting to fail. I want to do all I can to
when they are presented. Ofentimes I have found myself help them achieve their goals.
volunteering to take on a leadership role either at work or with Te one thing I would most like to fx is having students
my community service organizations. Sometimes you must be come to higher education prepared. I think we should be
willing to step out of your comfort zone to get the job done that working toward the end of “developmental” (or as some call
is imperative to the goals of the organization. If you are open to it “remedial”) education. We need to be REALLY working
learning all the time, then you must put those things that you with the K-12 schools to ensure students learn what they need
learn into action; this means that you take on more responsibility to enter higher education. I don’t believe we communicate
and more responsibility means providing leadership. and cooperatively work enough with these schools to ensure
students learn the necessary information to enter higher
education. We do some work with schools, but we could do a lot
more. Tere is not enough funding to go around and until we
work together, we will continue to have fnancial strain for K-12
and for higher education.
Looking “beyond the horizon” is a key attribute for any senior
leader. What challenges and/or opportunities do you foresee for
colleges in the coming years?
Community colleges have done a good job of doing more with
less over the years. Funding will continue to be a challenge for
community colleges. We need to form partnerships with K-12
and with four-year universities to help students obtain their
degrees. We need to continue to use technology in the learning
process. We have to help our faculty gain the necessary skills to
use technology as a tool in the educational process. We need to
help our educators be open to new ways of providing education;
such as competency-based, problem-based, and contextualized
learning. But, most of all, we need faculty, student services,
and staf to work as a team! All of these areas are necessary
components of the educational experience of our students. We
must work together. As they say “It takes a village to raise a
child;” it takes the college community to educate a student!
Refecting on leadership philosophy, what leader/philosophy do you
aspire to emulate?
Tis year Sandy Shugart spoke at the 25th International
Conference. I have heard him several times and even invited
him and his team to speak at one of the earlier Student Success
Summer Institutes that I organized for our district. One of the
messages that he delivers is about believing that all students
can learn. Tat is the basis of where we begin our work. Tis
resonated with me and I have never forgotten this message.
Tis is my foundational belief. As I said earlier, no one wants
to come to college to fail. My colleagues and our staf members
want to do good work. In this job, students are not successful
by themselves. It takes a team/group efort to help our students
14 LEADERSHIP Vol. 22.1 Spring/Summer 2016
Client: The Chair Academy Job: Leadership_Journal_22.1 SPRING/SUMMER 2016 Final size: 8.5” x 11” Colors: CMYK Bleeds: Yes
Created by: Goldfsh Creative - Laura Dvir • 602.349.2220 • goldfshcreates@q.com
