City Colleges of Chicago
Chancellor Juan Salgado Outlines Vision for
Student-Centered Community
College System On Day One
Chancellor Salgado Names Two
Interim College Presidents and Engages Community in Effort to Continue Gains,
Address Challenges Posed by State Budget Crisis
Chicago, IL – On his first day at the helm of City Colleges
of Chicago (CCC), Chancellor Juan Salgado introduced his vision for building
upon CCC’s student-centered community college system and announced interim
college presidents at Truman College and Olive-Harvey College, part of a
leadership team which will focus on improving student outcomes and the student
experience while overcoming challenges posed by an unprecedented state budget
crisis.
“We are in unchartered waters in higher education in
Illinois, facing never before seen state resource constraints, and yet, we must
ensure these harsh realities don’t dampen our students’ futures, so that they
continue to succeed at record rates, and have an exceptional experience at City
Colleges that prepares them to reach their college and career goals,” said
Chancellor Salgado.
“My non-profit background has trained me to bring people
together to seek creative solutions to hard problems,” continued Chancellor
Salgado, “and I will rely on this experience as we engage faculty, students,
staff, four-year colleges, employers, the community, and our elected officials
to ensure our students and communities are connected to economic opportunity.”
Informed by preliminary listening sessions with key
stakeholders inside the colleges and out, Chancellor Salgado outlined the
following initial priorities aimed at supporting City Colleges students’
success:
·
Creating a
superior student experience by building upon CCC’s student-centered culture and
fostering positive relationships from a student’s first contact with CCC to
graduation and beyond
·
Forging
meaningful partnerships with communities, employers, 4-year colleges, and other
partners to provide support and resources for CCC students and ensure any
Chicagoans seeking a quality, affordable post-secondary education can access
one, and
·
Building upon
a data-driven culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence to
best utilize institutional resources to further student success.
To realize these goals, Chancellor Salgado announced plans
to establish teams focused on enhancing the student experience and bolstering
student enrollment, as well as strategic outreach to address the funding crisis
that has stalled the construction of a Transportation, Distribution, Logistics
Center at Olive-Harvey College and threatens the system’s track record of
financial health and academic gains.
City Colleges has been shortchanged $70 million over the
last two years from the state of Illinois, which has failed to fund student MAP
grants this year after significantly delaying them last year.
To support this strategy, Chancellor Salgado announced he
would be filling
two upcoming vacancies with interim
presidents at Truman and Olive-Harvey Colleges, and that he will fill the vacancy at Kennedy-King in the very near future.
“I have confidence that these leaders will be active
champions for our college communities, and I also recognize that the role of
President must learn from and embody the values of the college,” continued
Chancellor Salgado. “That is why I will also ensure that we will engage
in a thoughtful, inclusive process to appoint permanent presidents at those
campuses by the end of next academic year.”
"On behalf of the Board, we commend Chancellor
Salgado's thoughtful interim appointments and look forward to initiating the
search process for permanent presidents by this fall with a selection to come
next spring," said Charles R. Middleton, Chair, City Colleges of
Chicago Board of Trustees.
Shawn Jackson was named interim president of Truman
College, City Colleges’ center of excellence for education. Dr. Jackson
is presently the Chief Officer of Leadership and Learning at the Chicago Public
Schools, where he has developed learning initiatives for students and parents
including CPS Connects, a K-12 virtual learning platform, and the citywide
Parent University model, which serves to support CPS parents so they can
partner in their children’s academic success. As principal of Spencer
Technology Academy for seven years, Dr. Jackson helped to turn around the
struggling Westside elementary school, after starting his career as an
elementary science teacher in CPS. Dr. Jackson holds a Doctorate of
Philosophy, Administration and Supervision from Loyola University (Chicago), a
Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from St. Xavier University, and a
Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Northeastern Illinois University.
“I am so pleased that Dr. Jackson will serve as our new
leader at Truman College,” said Chancellor Salgado. “His deep education
experience will bring robustness to Truman’s focus on training the next
generation of educators, and he himself serves as a role model in our effort to
build a diverse pipeline of educators into Chicago classrooms.”
Felicia Davis was named interim president of Olive-Harvey
College, City Colleges’ center of excellence for transportation, distribution
and logistics. Most recently, Ms. Davis served as the Executive Director
of the Public Buildings Commission, where she was responsible for the
management of area public construction projects. She also held roles as
Commissioner of the Department of Buildings, Executive Director of the Mayor’s
Office of Public Engagement and First Deputy Chief of Staff. Previously,
Ms. Davis spent ten years in administration at Kendall College, rising to Vice
President of Operations and Student Administration, having directed student
affairs, alumni relations, and career services. She began her career as a
Chicago police officer. Growing up in Altgeld Gardens and Roseland, with
a mother who attended Olive-Harvey College, Davis is no stranger to the college
and surrounding community. Like many City Colleges students, she returned
to school to earn a Bachelor’s degree from Kendall College. Also, as a working adult, she has pursued a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Illinois Institute of Technology, thesis pending. (*Please note the original version of this press release included an error that indicated the Master's degree had been earned, omitting the phrase "thesis pending.")
“Felicia’s unique combination of experience in higher
education administration, major public construction projects, community
relations, and her ties to the institution were an uncanny fit for the
leadership needs at Olive-Harvey College,” said Chancellor Salgado. “I hope to
engage her immediately in reaching out to the community and Springfield to
ensure Chicagoans don’t miss out on the tens of thousands of jobs coming to our
region in the fast-growing TDL field as well as the opportunities created by
the college’s general education, GED and ESL offerings.”
Both interim appointments will be considered by the City
Colleges Board of Trustees.
The remainder of his first day, Chancellor Salgado spent
visiting with students, faculty and staff and community members at three City
Colleges locations, lunching with a dozen students in his downtown office,
where he also walked the building halls to meet staff. He invited those
he met to share their experience and feedback.
Registration is currently open for summer and fall classes
at City Colleges. For more information or to register, prospective
students are encouraged to go online at www.ccc.edu or call 773-COLLEGE.