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The Year in Review

Reflections on my First Year as President of Mesa Community College

      Shouan Pan
      March 23, 2009

I recently celebrated my first anniversary as president of Mesa Community College. Looking back on the experience of this first year, I realized that I spent most of my time in four major activities: learning about the institution, managing expectations (including those I had for myself), balancing competing demands on time, and providing leadership throughout the college. It has been both a demanding and rewarding year.

Today, I know a great deal more about MCC than what I did a year ago, and hence know more about what we need to do to make us better and stronger. Working together as a college, we have made important progress; more importantly, I trust that we are moving in the right direction.

Blessings and Thank-Yous

From the hands of my predecessors, I inherited a fine college, with a rich history for innovation, excellent teaching and learning, and a proud track record of serving citizens in the city of Mesa and the East Valley. Unequivocally, the talented and committed faculty and staff have made MCC what it is today. I am privileged to take over the "baton" and charged to build upon its strong foundation and move it forward.

I am grateful that student, faculty, staff, community leaders, and Chancellor Glasper guided me, the new president, through my first year with untold patience, kindness, encouragement, and support. Everyone welcomed me with warmth and good will; every one accepted me for who I am. During the hundred plus individual and small-group conversations in "Learning Network," "Coffee with Shouan," and "Lunch with the President" sessions, you shared with me the "good" and the "bad"; you assured me your dedication to MCC and your support for my leadership directions.

Leadership from the Faculty Senate, the Chairs Association, the MAT, the PSA, the Craftsmen, and the M & O employee groups all clued me in on their reasonable expectations and exhibited professionalism and trust in our interactions. Members of the President's Cabinet and the College Leadership Team functioned well as my left and right hands and gave me wise counsel. Please know that I do not take any of this for granted; indeed, I am thankful and grateful.

Progress and Inroads

Truth be told, I also inherited a college with a few challenges. There has also been no lack of "new wrenches" that were thrown in our directions. To address the leftover issues and new challenges and to move the college forward, we ushered in a few new processes and started a series of new initiatives. Together we made important inroads on several fronts and achieved progress in a few areas. For purpose of taking institutional stock, let me highlight the major ones:

  1. Getting a realistic handle of relative institutional strengths and weaknesses
    We completed a college-wide SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis and a major Technology Study-Executive Summaries were posted online and shared with both the internal and external community through six (6) Open Forums. Results from the analysis and college-wide conversations led to several important institutional initiatives. We have also begun a study of the College's Website, and major findings are forthcoming.

  2. Introducing a greater degree of responsiveness, transparency, and accountability into leadership and management processes of the senior administration
    The president and members of the President's Cabinet are expected to practice openness and transparency in overall leadership and day-to-day management. Employees are encouraged to provide input in major college decisions. Every executive level administrator is held accountable for their actions. Members of the President's Cabinet recently completed a 360 degree evaluation by peers and employees. New expectations for the president and members of the President's Cabinet were defined as "providing responsive and ethical leadership that enables faculty and staff to provide the best teaching and learning experience to students." The college community is invited to help us live up to that expectation through open feedback.

  3. Ushered in a new spirit of cross-departmental and cross-divisional communication and collaboration
    More than before, department chairs, instructional and student affairs deans are working together to address issues and fashion solutions to institutional challenges. As a result, we experienced a much improved spring 2009 student registration. Across the college, academic and student affairs leaders are consulting each other in committee work and special projects. To improve the speed and accuracy in calculating course loads and pay for both full-time and adjunct faculty, a cross-college team worked together and successfully piloted a Faculty Pay Project.

  4. Initiated principled decision making
    In consultation with leadership of employee groups, we developed a set of "Five Guiding Principles for Strategic Decision Making." A college-wide Fiscal Oversight Committee has been formulated to address budget allocations and to achieve the necessary budget cuts.

  5. Strengthening and rebuilding the administrative team
    • Hired Dr. James Mabry as the new Vice President of Academic Affairs. His principled, collaborative, and personal approach to leadership and management is refreshing and much needed in academic affairs.
    • Appointed Mr. Kurt Conover as the Interim VP of Administrative Services. His in-depth knowledge of college budgets and attention to detail has benefited our college and will continue to serve us well in the challenging financial times.
    • Appointed Dr. Shereen Learner as the Interim Dean of Instruction. Her familiarity with instructional issues, her experience as a department chair, and her ability to lead collaboratively is already helping the college move forward in many ways.
    • Hired Mr. Matt Ashcraft as the Dean of Institutional Research and Planning. As an MCC alumnus, Matt has a deep passion and love for this institution. He asks long-term institutional questions and helps us see the big picture.
    • Appointed Dr. Emily Weinacker as the Interim Associate Dean of Human Resources. Through collaboration with both faculty and staff, she has made significant progress in addressing HR issues in the college. She has spearheaded several important initiatives that continue to elevate responsiveness and quality of service.

  6. Laid the foundation for institutional improvement and institutional transformation
    • We transitioned the Enrollment Management Committee into the Enrollment Management Steering Committee. The Committee, co-chaired by Preston Cameron and Kathleen Perales, is gathering information on recruitment and retention efforts throughout the institution and is on the way to build a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan for the college.
    • As recommended by the Technology Audit, the Technology Governance Committee is being constituted. The Committee will steer future directions of technology projects and technology investment for the institution.
    • We have identified six major goals as the short-term Major Themes of Operation and begun the important work of reviewing and rebuilding the college's vision, mission, and values for the long term.

Agendas for Next Year

There will not be a lack of issues and challenges confronting us as an institution. As the president, I will continue to struggle to strike a balance between focusing on moving the institution forward on important fronts and effectively managing daily operations and the balance between internal and external focus. With your support, I am confident that we will make greater strides in months and years ahead.

The list of presidential "to-dos" is long; however, we will continue to focus on institutional attention on student success, employee success and community success. Translating this institutional focus to specific initiatives and projects, it includes:

Final Words

Together, we've covered a great deal of ground and made important strides; yet, much remains to be done. However, I sense a new vitality, hope, and pride in the college. I remain excited coming to work every day-like you, I am energized by the opportunity to make positive differences in the lives of the students we serve.

I look forward to working with you to take on the challenges ahead of us; I ask you to join me in building MCC into a premier college. This work is meaningful. MCC is worth my and your talent and commitment. Thank you for your support!

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