Linda D. Collins
is the Business department Chair at Mesa Community College where she supports a variety of degree and certificate programs in
more than 10 disciplines. Ms. Collins is a Certified Online Instructor through the Walden Institute and has been a distance
education instructor for 20 years. She is also the Coordinator of the Open Entry program for the department and teaches multiple
computer applications as well as Business English. Ms. Collins is currently leading the International Business degree partnership
with Koning Willem I College in the Netherlands and also serves as the Chair of the MCC Distance Education committee.
Linda was born in Omaha, Nebraska and from her mother’s side is a fifth Generation Nebraskan, the state that has seven seasons -- Cold, Blizzard, Melty Snow, Tornado, Mosquito, Mud, and Hot-Humid. There is, however, a two week season in October that is beautiful, where all the apples are ripened, the breeze is a warm whisper, and the sun shines over the fall harvest, lighting up the fields.
Linda has been married to Jim, a native Arizonan, for almost 36 years. They lived in Cave Creek for 24 years and recently relocated to Gilbert to be closer to work. Prior to Cave Creek, they both lived in Paradise Valley where they met. Jim currently works at Chandler-Gilbert Community College as a utility worker and they have two grown children, James and Leigh Ann. James is a graduate of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and is the lead chef at the four-diamond Pan e Vino restaurant in Pinnacle Peak. Leigh Ann is a recent graduate from ASU and a store accountant for the Cheesecake Factory in Sacramento, California. Lastly, to help make up the Collins’ family is the family’s two cats -- Emily Ann and Claire Marie.
Prior to joining the Business Department in 2000, Ms. Collins was the Director for Instructional Technology at MCC. During her three-year tenure in IT, she assisted in the technology planning for both the Paul A. Elsner Library at the Dobson campus and the new Red Mountain campus.
Linda’s assignments at MCC were preceded by twelve years at Rio Salado College where she served in a variety of capacities including Coordinator of Educational Computing and adjunct faculty member. During her tenure at Rio Salado, she was a co-recipient of three grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation focusing on addressing the needs of at-risk students at a distance. Linda also received the President’s Award of Excellence for three consecutive years at Rio Salado College. She also served as a technologist at Intel Corporation and American Express.
Ms. Collins is a charter member of the Asynchronous Learning Networks and has made a variety of presentations on online learning and serving at-risk students at internationally recognized conferences including the League for Innovation and International Asynchronous Learning Networks.
She received an A.A. degree from Rio Salado College, a B.A. in Humanities from Thomas Edison College, and a MS degree in Educational Change and Technology Innovation from Walden University. Ms. Collins is currently pursuing a doctoral degree through Northcentral University in Education with a specialization in Educational Technology Management.
Linda enjoys traveling and has been to every state west of the Missouri River except for Montana and Idaho. She has visited all the southern states, and has traveled to major US cities including New York City; Washington, DC; Chicago; and Philadelphia. She has visited Canada and Mexico several times and accompanied Jim to Germany for a year while he was in the service. During one of her college trips, she visited the Netherlands, Belgium, and England. Currently, her hobby is to complete her doctoral program at NCU.
