President

No Need for Term Limits: And then there were 3

In case you’re keeping score at home, since the “Presidential Shake-up” of 2011, and the mass hiring that June (except for the KK President who was hired in November of that year), the lineup card of CCC Presidents looks like this:

HW: Don Laackman (2011-2013); search underway shortly;

DA: Jose Aybar (2009-Current);

KK: Joyce Ester (2011-2013); Arshelle Stevens (2013-Current–who has her critics);

MX: Anthony Munroe (2011-Current);

OH: Craig Follins (2011-2014); search underway;

TR: Reagan Romali (2011-Current–though she almost left last year);

WR: Jim Palos (2011-2012); Don Laackman (interim); David Potash (2013-Current);

At the press conference announcing their hiring, the Mayor said, ““With this leadership, CCC will be ready to realize its potential as the economic engine of our region and ensure Chicagoans are prepared with the skills to succeed in today’s competitive global economy.” I guess the job was one that didn’t take very long?

Big HWC News: President’s Office Now Hiring

Don has a new gig.

Congratulations to Don–it looks like a great fit.

And as for us, it’s on to our fourth president in five years; we’re going to need a bigger library if this keeps up!

UPDATE: More from around the web…

~From the Burlington Free Press (with video)

~From Crain’s (with some oddly personal details)

~From a Champlain faculty member’s blog

~From the other coast (well, the AP, but picked up in San Fran)

 

Tuesday Teaching Question

Tuesday Teaching Question is a regular feature that attempts to get a conversation going about teaching.  Typically, the questions attempt to be very practical and begin with an excessively long preamble.  TTQ is brought to you by CAST.  If you have a question that you’re dying to have featured in an upcoming TTQ, e-mail me at hwc_cast@ccc.edu.

Here’s last week’s, back by unpopular demand. 🙂

Yesterday (now one week ago) seemed to be a day full of waiting…waiting for the Red Line to get to work, waiting for various websites to load at HWC, waiting on line (yeah, I said “on line” instead of “in line”; I’m from NY) to submit my midterm grades (they’re due today BTW), waiting for students to stop in during office hours, etc.  If you’re like me, when you’re waiting, your mind starts to wander.  Today’s TTQ is inspired by the time I spent waiting.

I was thinking about our new president’s letter and his blog (and now his 2nd entry about academic “coaching”).  I jokingly asked the class I was teaching yesterday if the building felt any different.  They asked me why I’d asked this.  I went on to tell them that we had a new president.  They asked me if this was a good thing.  I said, “so far, so good.”  I remain optimistic.  Anyway, here’s the ending of President Laackman’s letter.  Maybe we can jump start the “getting to know you” process.

Our mission is central to who we are. All of us bring that mission to life. I am trying to learn how you do that and what you need to do an even better job for our students. I look forward to working with you to support our students and prepare them to realize their dreams.

What do you need to do an even better job for our students?

What do you do currently that you think others should know about?

Friday Spotlight: President John Metoyer

UPDATE: I’m going to turn this weekend into Metoyer-Palooza, and stick this to the top of the page for the weekend to encourage more postings of gratitude. Plus, that way, I won’t have to hear Art bellyachin’ on Monday about the pace of the postings…

Today is John’s last weekday serving as our President.

Since he took up the reigns after the abrupt and heart-breaking departure of (our beloved) John Wozniak, last August, only a few weeks after being promoted Vice President (upon Saundra Banyard’s retirement* Cecilia’s departure), John M has managed to navigate difficult and turbulent waters with grace, aplomb, wit, and honesty.

Thrust onto the stage of institutional leadership, John performed flawlessly, as if he’d been doing it for years.

I have and will continue to appreciate his honesty, his integrity, and, of course, his hilarious sense of humor.

Thanks for being our President John, and thanks for being such a great one for the students by being a great one for us, your fellow faculty members.

*h/t to Jenny A for the correction. Sorry.