The new year has brought me the opportunity to serve as president of CampusWorks, a strategic higher education consulting firm that transforms community colleges by providing independent perspective and creative solutions to leverage technology to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and position students for success. Having spent over 30 years in the global higher education space, I’ve seen our industry confront challenges large and small, and the institutions that have fared best have been those that have looked past the challenges for opportunities to evolve and grow.

Wow! Where did it go? It is hard for me to believe that 2017 has come and gone, and 2018 is here. I know most community colleges are on a fiscal year that does not coincide with the calendar year, but at this time, it is always good to reflect on the past year. What could or should I have done differently? If anything, what did I learn from it? That is the key – learning. Learning is not just something we do while in school, learning is a life-long process; it is, or should be, never ending. So, for 2018, I challenge you to learn. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from your successes. Learn from everything you do.

As we reflect on the past year, 2017 was a year of change for CCBO. We have welcomed a lot of new board members as well as new staff to our team in Charlottesville. Together we hosted webinars, ran a very successful conference (hope you got to hold the baby alligators!), and welcomed new members. But we also reflected on what could be even better. What can we do to give our members the tools and resources they need on campus? How can we impact the community college environment across the US and Canada? How can we ensure institutional sustainability through the work we do at CCBO?

Greetings and Happy New Year, As your now Past President, I want to thank each and every one of you for your participation in CCBO this last year. CCBO featured some great webinars and our conference in New Orleans was awesome! We have much work ahead of us. It is so important that you as current members reach out to your peers at your institution and other sister institutions to increase the membership of CCBO. CCBO is the organization that promotes our common thread in community college business officers to network with one another and learn from each other. It is so beneficial, now more than ever with budget cuts and reduced enrollments, to reach out to our counterparts at other institutions to assist us in new processes. There is no need to have to recreate the wheel! Please reach out to our CCBO home office and offer any assistance that you can concerning membership enrollment and webinar presentations. I would also like to say a huge thank you to our business partners for continuing to support our organization. Our business partners are so important to the sustainability of our organization. I wish you all a happy, prosperous, and blessed new year in 2018! I am looking forward to seeing you in Phoenix!

While for-profits get the relief they’ve long clamored for, the GOP’s proposed overhaul of the Higher Education Act would add performance-funding standards for most colleges. (Inside Higher Ed)

Legislation would tax largest private college endowments, create new cost burdens for business unrelated to educational mission and could put new strains on state budgets that fund public universities. (Inside Higher Ed)

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, by 2020 the United States is expected to face a shortage of 5 million workers who are equipped with technical certificates and credentials. The theme for the American Association of Community Colleges’ 2018 Workforce Development Institute is "Exploring Intersections." (Community College Daily)

California Gov. Jerry Brown wants to launch the state’s first fully online public community college that would provide short-term programs to help 2.5 million young adults without college credentials attain skills for available jobs in fields such as advanced manufacturing, healthcare and child development. (Community College Daily)

You and your colleagues work hard to break new ground, implement innovation, and achieve success. Honor these achievements by nominating yourself or someone you know for a CCBO Award.