There’s a warm spot in Dr. Carmen Simone’s heart for education in rural environs.
“I’m a rural gal,” Simone explained, having grown up in western North Dakota. “I believe so strongly in the rural mission of community colleges, and the access they provide for students.”
Simone is one of three finalists being interviewed this month to become Allen Community College’s next college president, to replace the retiring John Masterson.
Following a public meet-and-greet Monday afternoon, Simone met privately with Allen Board of Trustees members Monday evening.
Her visit will conclude today with a tour of Allen’s outreach facility in Burlingame.
Similar visits are planned for the other two finalists. Jon Marshall, Allen’s vice president of academic affairs, will be at a public reception at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the college’s Mary Ellen Stadler Conference Room before meeting with trustees privately that evening.
Dr. Bruce Moses will meet the public at 3 p.m. Monday, and meet with trustees privately that evening.
SIMONE came away impressed with the Allen campus.
“What a wonderful college,” she said. “As you look at Allen Community College, it’s so well-rounded” with its facilities, its faculty and most importantly, its students.
Simone noted whoever the college picks as its next chief administrator will have huge shoes to fill with the outgoing Masterson, ACC president since 1992.
“When you watch him engage with the students, you see him and hear him, you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, they love him,” Simone said. “He has such a connection with the students. He knows who they are.
“Whoever is chosen will have a great opportunity for a great future at the college,” she added, because of the foundation Masterson and the Trustees have established.
SIMONE has left quite a footprint herself.
Her career in education included stops in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota and now Nebraska.
Included in her experience is helping start from scratch a community college in Sioux Falls, S.D.
While Sioux Falls is South Dakota’s largest city — and holds a third of the state’s population — it has no public university, Simone noted.
“The communities asked for a community college,” she noted, to specialize in workforce development and innovation for students less inclined to attend a four-year university. “The idea of that was so intriguing to me.”
