ACCT

1,500 Community College Trustees, Presidents Convene in San Francisco, CA

to Address Achieving Success in a Global Economy and

Navigating the Educational Landscape During Turbulent Times

WASHINGTON, D.C.— More than 1,500 community college trustees, presidents and leaders gathered at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) 40TH Annual ACCT Community College Leadership Congress. The 2009 ACCT Congress was held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel from October 8 - 10.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the 2009 ACCT Leadership Congress with a reminder that the work of community colleges has become even more important during the current economic crisis. “I call community colleges institutions of hope,” said Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger” on the morning of October 8. “You provide hope to the laid-off father who needs to provide for his family... the young woman turned away from the university... the budding entrepreneur who wants to go out and create a business... or to immigrants like myself who want to learn the language and be successful. That’s what community colleges represent: hope.”

“2009 has been a remarkable year for community colleges,” said 2008-2009 ACCT Chair Arthur C. Anthonisen, a trustee at Orange County Community College in New York. “The scale and depth of this year’s ACCT Congress reflects the dedication of community college trustees to their colleges and communities.”

The event featured six keynote speakers: Barbara Beno, president of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges; Gene A. Budig, professor and senior presidential adviser at The College Board; Judith S. Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation; Martha J. Kanter, under secretary of education, U.S. Department of Education; Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation for Education; and Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

During the Congress, it was also announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education announced a new accountability standards initiative that will help prepare community college governing boards to demonstrate the effectiveness and relevance of their institutions. The partnership, which includes the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the College Board, will identify a voluntary framework for accountability that will more accurately capture the unique roles and varied missions of the nation’s 1,200 community and technical colleges.

“This partnership is extremely timely, and will complement the Obama Administration’s goal of increasing student success and completion,” said J. Noah Brown, ACCT’s President and CEO. “The partnership between ACCT, AACC, and The College Board is invaluable in bringing this work to the forefront. ACCT will assist boards in using the framework once developed to increase public understanding and appreciation for our institutions.”

With pre-Congress sessions on effective governance, CEO contracts, crisis preparedness and response, and the popular Governance Leadership Institute, attendees experienced many opportunities to review fundamental skills and enhance their seasoned expertise. The 40th Annual ACCT Leadership Congress featured over 115 educational sessions on best practices for community colleges, fundamental and advanced trustee training, several special sessions and a lively town hall meeting on the pressing issues related to philanthropic interest in community colleges.

ACCT’s Board of Directors elected new officers to its executive committee, Chair Thomas M. Bennett, Parkland College, IL; Chair-Elect Peter E. Sercer, Sr., Midlands Technical College, SC; Vice-Chair Roberto Uranga, Long Beach City College, CA; Secretary-Treasurer Celia M. Turner, Mott Community College, MI; and Immediate Past-Chair Arthur C. Anthonisen, Orange County Community College, NY.

2009-2010 Regional Chairs include: Jean Torgeson (Central) North Iowa Area Community College, IA; James R. Perry (Northeast) Union County College, NJ; Rebecca Garcia (Pacific) Cabrillo College, CA; Gregory Schuckman (Southern) Northern Virginia Community College, VA; Diane Olmos Guzman (Western) Houston Community College, TX.

Newly and re-elected Regional Directors are Jeffrey A. May (Central) Joliet Junior College, IL; Roberta “Bobbi” Shulman (Northeast) Montgomery College, MD; Frederick Whang (Pacific) Tacoma Community College, WA; Gregory Schuckman (Southern) Northern Virginia Community College, CA; and Robert “Bob” Feit (Western) Southeast Community College, NE.

Newly and re-elected Directors-at-large are William E. Coleman, Jr. from Mercer County Community College NJ; Anita Grier from City College of San Francisco, CA; and John W. Sanders from John A. Logan College, IL. Walter Howald from Coast Community College District in California was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors as the Diversity Committee Chair.

Video, photos, presentations, handouts and more from the 40th Annual ACCT Leadership Congress are available on the ACCT Web site at http://www.acct.org/events/annualcongress/09. 

About ACCT

ACCT is a not-for-profit association composed of more than 6,500 publicly elected and appointed trustees serving on the 600 governing boards of community, junior and technical colleges in the United States, Canada, and England. For more information about the Leadership Congress and ACCT programs and services, visit www.acct.org.

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