The four finalists vying to be the next president of Allen Community College will be in town the first week of December for a round of interviews and meet-and-greets with the public.
Each finalist will participate in an open community forum, available for faculty, staff, students, and community members beginning Monday, Dec. 2 and continuing through Thursday. The forums are from 9 to 10 a.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. in ACC’s Stadler Conference Room.
The public is invited to attend the forums as well as complete feedback forms, which will be reviewed by ACC board of trustees.
In order of their appearance on campus are:
Monday, Dec. 2
Mark Curtis-Chavez, Ph.D.
Curtis-Chavez is provost of the College of DuPage, the largest single campus community college in Illinois and its chief academic officer. In addition, he oversees continuing education, workforce, and the performing and visual arts programs of the McAninch Arts Center. Curtis-Chavez is an Aspen Institute 2020 – 2021 Rising Presidents Fellow and serves on the board of directors of the National Community College Hispanic Council.
With 20-plus years of experience in community colleges in teaching and leadership, Curtis-Chavez is deeply committed to its mission of open access and student success.
In his leadership roles, growing enrollment has been a hallmark of his career, most recently growing enrollment 5.8% at College of DuPage.
He has led these strategic enrollment management efforts in order to open doors of opportunity to under-served and under-resourced communities.
He has also been responsive to the community’s needs, building dual-credit programs and working with companies like Hewlett Packard and SAP to create new degrees and certificates. He has also built a Competency Based Education program, which led to many national presentations and consultations.
Moreover, Curtis-Chavez has helped increase student completion and success through building such college-wide programs as Guided Pathways, co-requisites, early alert, open educational resources, and bridge programs.
Curtis-Chavez has a PhD in higher education from the University of Toledo, a master’s degree in English from Northern Illinois University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
Samuel “Todd” Brand, Ph.D.
