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NCCCS President Kicks Off Leadership Institute For 57

Vance-Granville Community College has selected 57 members of its faculty and staff to participate in the inaugural class of the college’s Leadership Institute.

President Randy Parker initiated the Leadership Institute to identify personnel who wish to assume greater leadership roles and to train them to undertake these roles.

The goals of the Leadership Institute include strengthening leadership skills at all operational levels of VGCC, to inform potential leaders about the history, structure and governance of the community college, to look in-depth at legislative and legal issues that have impact on college operations, to explore effective leadership styles, and to begin development of a diverse pool of qualified leaders for the 21st century, Parker said.

The institute’s first class is broken into three groups – faculty, professional staff, and support staff. Separate curricula are being developed for each group, and each will train separately.

Volunteers were solicited who wanted to participate in the leadership training, and those selected for the first class are:

Faculty – Paula Askew, Wendy Bailey, Tammy Care, Marian Dilahunt, Tom Edwards, Carolyn Foster, Wendy Frandsen, Robbie Hackworth, Linda Hahnel, Linda Hall, Carl Hann, Evelyn Harris, Andrea Hyson, Roxanne Jackson, Erica Jastrow, Angela Johnson, Bill Jones, Nikole Jorgensen-Zidar, Bob Litzenberger, Steve McGrady, Brenda Moss, Lauren Noble, Rusty Pace, Beth Phillips, Grace Sauls, Randall Spain and Anna Wilson.

Professional staff – Yvonne Alston, Maria Bailey, Ann Behar, Camille Chandler, Garland Elliott, Diane Finch, Beth Gray, Sylvia Jones, Suzanne Keil, Kathy Ktul, Ken Lewis, Helen Lindsey, Bobbie Jo May, Nancy Price, Barbara Smith, Cecilia Wheeler and Philip White.

Support staff – Larraine Abbott, Dan Bender, Stephanie Carter, Kay Currin, Claudette Dickerson, Rebecca Fuller, Jessica Harvey, Mary McMannen, Sandra Newton, Scott O’Neal, Copper Rain, Rose Marie Schuster and Deborah Sullivan.

A dinner was held April 4 to kick off the Leadership Institute, and H. Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System, visited the college and addressed the inaugural class.

Lancaster is a former Secretary of the Army and served in the North Carolina House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives. He became president in 1997 of the state community college system, one of the largest in the nation. He presides over 59 institutions with almost 800,000 students.

The community college system needs new leaders; new presidents, vice presidents and deans are being named almost every day, Lancaster said. “There is an excellent opportunity for you to move up,” he told the class.

Lancaster shared his thoughts on the attributes of leadership. He quoted former Gov. Terry Sanford who said: “Surround yourself with people smarter than you; their brilliance will reflect positively on you.”

He also advised the leadership class to connect with those they would lead, to learn to develop consensus among their followers, to develop the ability to articulate orally and in writing, to delegate responsibility, and to share credit when things go right and share blame when things go wrong.

The NCCCS president also discussed the role of his office and of the State Board of Community Colleges and talked about their responsibilities. He told the class of his vision for the system, the things it is doing well and the areas in which he hopes the system will further develop to better serve the education and training needs of the communities the colleges serve. 


In the photo above, H. Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System, addresses the inaugural class of the Vance-Granville Community College Leadership Institute on April 4.