President's Corner

It’s the time of year to review our accomplishments from the past year and set our goals for the year ahead. My first step in reviewing the past is to practice gratitude. I am continually amazed at so many things I have to be thankful for, especially all the wonderful people in my life. I am thankful for my kids and family who mean the world to me. I am thankful to the people I work with every day who are so dedicated to helping our students to achieve their goals. And I am also thankful for my many friends and colleagues at CCBO from whom I learn so much and whose new ideas I bring back and share at my college.

My next step is to review my goals for the year ahead as well as my "to do" lists. The best way to ensure the success of business or personal goals is to use SMART goals, which is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Using this format helps us to be accountable and transparent with our community. Another advantage of sharing our goals publicly is that it gives us the opportunity to share our successes and celebrate our achievements with our community. With that, one of my SMART goals for 2015 is to complete twelve credit hours toward my doctorate in Organizational Leadership.

The year ahead will also present new opportunities for us as we learn more about both the U.S. Department of Education’s college ratings framework and President Obama’s "America’s College Promise" and what they will mean for our colleges. I look forward to working with all of you to do the very best we can for our students and our profession.