As most of you know, 2016 is our 50th anniversary as a college. Over the course of those 50 years we have grown and changed, sometimes in response to changing needs and often as a result of inspired leaders whose vision and leadership guided the college through periods of great challenge. As we moved into our 50th anniversary year, I learned things that have been especially moving for me. In the past three months, I’ve heard stories from our rich history that…
Taking time to be retrospective is a wonderful exercise. Months ago when we started preparing for TCC’s 50th Anniversary year we spent a lot of time looking back, from the foundation of the College to today, and who helped us along the way. The photos and documents we pulled from the archives, some of which dated back years before the doors even opened, were a wonderful reminder of our rich history and the significance of our institution. With our anniversary…
Every organization has a certain amount of inertia or velocity with which it moves steadily forward. This forward momentum is almost never the result of one massive push, but rather many small and determined pushes that are motivated by a collective desire for progress. I have the honor of being at the helm of Tallahassee Community College as we celebrate our landmark 50th anniversary. This institution has seen some of the most hardworking, most dedicated people come through its doors…
As we approach our winter break and the end of another calendar year, I would like to take a moment to share just some of the many highlights from 2015 and express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who make this College a success each and every day. TCC was one of 16 colleges nationwide to be named among the 2015 Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development and “Diverse: Issues…
Last week, I took part in an open forum with our classified staff and noticed an underlying theme of much of the discussion was change – in our enrollment, in our business processes, in our organizational structure. I also heard a lot of anxiety, and understandably so. We’re setting ambitious goals and deadlines for ourselves right now with many different projects and transitions happening simultaneously. For example, our newest leadership addition, Provost Feleccia Moore-Davis, has proposed a number of ideas…
As we near completion on two very important construction projects – our new Gadsden Center and the Wakulla Environmental Institute – I wanted to take this opportunity to share my excitement around the vision for these facilities. They will round out the college’s footprint across our district for years to come. From time to time I am asked what counties make up our service district. We serve a district comprised of three very distinctive counties with unique characteristics and needs:…
It’s Welcome Week at Tallahassee Community College, when we get to greet a new class of thousands of new and returning students to our College and get excited about beginning another new academic year. I want to thank each of our students, faculty and staff for choosing TCC. This will be my sixteenth year employed at the College, and my fifth year as President, and yet the enthusiasm from our campus family for what we do here still continues to…
With summer upon us, I have enjoyed hearing about the range of activities from exotic vacations to stay-cations that many of you have planned. I have also heard from some who haven’t yet made plans and from others who don’t intend to take any time off at all. Those latter conversations concern me. We all know that what we do here is important. Not only to those we serve but also to ourselves through the sense of accomplishment and joy…
Be a leader worth following. This was the theme of Leadercast, a one-day leadership conference we simulcast last week at the Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education. That message was particularly significant for me as I reflect on where we are heading with some of the leadership changes happening at the College. I am currently in the unprecedented situation of having to replace three members of our Executive Team in the next eight months. Theresa Smith, our Vice President for Administrative…
Graduation represents one of the most important times of the year here at TCC. It also happens to be one of my personal favorites. This is when we gather together and celebrate the successes of our wonderful graduates, the class of 2015. It is also an opportunity to reflect on individual accomplishments. Students, as well as the instructors who teach them and the staff who support them, have spent the last several months and years working steadily toward this moment….