Barbara Kavalier

Main focus: She wanted to use her past experience at San Jose City College and Navarro College to pull the college out of its probationary period that the Higher Learning Commission placed on the college last December.

She believes that the College of DuPage is a great place, and that she can lead the college to obtain the Aspen Prize, which is the highest mark for community college excellence in the nation. She has led Navarro College to the top 10 colleges of Texas, and she believes she can bring her practices to DuPage.

Education:

Associates Degree – Mountain View College

Bachelor’s of Science – Texas Christian University

Masters of Arts in Business – Amberton University

Doctors in Education in Community College Leadership – University of Texas

Experience:

President of Navarro College (TX)

President of San Jose City College (CA)

Vice President of Student Services of San Diego Mesa College (CA)

Associate Vice President of Tacoma Community College (WA)

Dean, Director, and Executive Assistant to the President of Dallas Community College District (TX)

How do you plan to deal with the split board?

“I think there are certain strategies that you could take that are effective,” said Kavalier. “I didn’t create them. They are best practice models and governance for community colleges. Certainly I will look to my experience in using some of those best practices. There are many different ways in which we could bring folks together. One of them that I mentioned tonight was the policy governance model. That’s been successful at many colleges.”

Ann Rondeau

Main Point: Rondeau wants to work with the board, administration and faculty to utilize her experience at the National Defence University, a collection of five colleges and nine research facilities in Washington DC, to benefit the college. She plans to become very involved in not only the administrative side, but also the extracurricular and athletic sides of the college.

She discussed her findings She believes that her experience with higher education and her experience in the Navy has given her the tools to bring this college back from probation and perspire for the Aspen Prize.

Experience:

President of the National Defense University in Washington D.C.

Deputy Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command in Illinois

Pentagon Director/Chief of Staff for the U.S. Navy Staff

Commander of the Navy Personnel Development Command in Virginia

Commander of the Naval Service Training Command at Great Lakes, Illinois

Pacific Fleet Staff Chief of Staff in Hawaii

Commanding Officer of Naval Support Activity in Tennessee

Education:

Bachelors of Arts from Eisenhower College (NY)

Masters of Arts from Georgetown University (DC)

Doctorate in Education from the College of Education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb She was awarded an honorary doctorate in public service from Carthage College (WI)

How will you deal with friction between faculty and administration?

“That’s always a case in most higher-ed places,” said Rondeau. “That friction is kind of normal to the organization. You just have to work at it every day. It’s not new to the College of DuPage, and it’s not unique to the College of DuPage. You just have to work it, work it work it. There’s no easy answer to it. You just have to keep working at it.”

David Sam

Main Point: Sam has five college degrees and has 22 years of administrative experience. As well, he has worked at the College of DuPage back in 1990, so he has the most experience with the college community between the three candidates.

He believes that his past experience as president of multiple institutions will help him with bringing College of DuPage back from probation. He told the Courier that he will be a visible part of the COD community, and will be involved deeply with the student body.

Experience:

President of Elgin Community College

President of North Harris College, Houston, TX

Dean of the Community and Technical College, and Professor of Social Science and Business Management at the University of Akron, Ohio

Vice President for Faculty and Instruction at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Natural and Social Sciences at Mott Community College in Michigan

Coordinator of International Studies at the College of DuPage

Associate Director at Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL.

Education:

Bachelors of Arts from Illinois State University

Masters of Arts from Tufts University (MA)

Masters of Business Administration from Northwestern University

Ph.D. in International Relations from Tufts University

J.D., or a Doctor of Law, from the University of Akron

LL.M., or Masters of Law, from the University of Dundee in Scotland.

How would you connect with students?

“I’ll be everywhere,” said Sam. “Student clubs, I’ll go there. There was one club at 10:30, bowling, I showed up and I bowled with them. I goto games. I will be going to the football games. I will be going to the basketball games. I go to the cafeteria. I sit around. I see students play ping pong and I play with them. Please call ECC [Elgin Community College], and they’ll tell you I’m visible. I’m everywhere.”