DEARBORN — The list of potential candidates hoping to become Henry Ford Community College’s next president has been narrowed down to six finalists.
HFCC will invite the six finalists to campus the week of March 18 and March 25 for open forums. Additional details on times and locations for these forums will be available within the next week.
• Ismael N. Ahmed, one of the finalists is an Arab American. Ahmed is currently the associate provost for Integrated Learning and Community Partnerships at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He earned the position in 2011. In this position, Ahmed is responsible for connecting academic programs to community, business, and government initiatives, locally and nationally. During his tenure, he has brought internal and external stakeholders together to forma a collaborative and student-centered vision around the University’s community outreach, institutional development, and fund raising strategies.
In September 2007, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm appointed Mr. Ahmed as director of Michigan’s Department of Human Services, a position he held until the end of 2010. He oversaw nearly 11,000 employees and administered a $7 billion annual budget.
In 1971, Ahmed co-founded the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), which is the largest Arab American human services organization in the United States.
• Gordon F. May, began his career in higher education in 1986. During the latter part of his 15-year transportation management career, he taught Principles of Business Management at the Oakland Community College (OCC) Auburn Hills campus.
In 1987, he became the initial director of the new OCC Pontiac Center. Following interim assignments as Dean of Academic and Student Services at the Highland Lakes and Auburn Hills Campuses, he returned to downtown Pontiac as executive director in 1997.
From September, 1998, through December, 1999, he served as interim president of the Auburn Hills Campus. On Sep. 1, 2002, he was appointed to the Highland Lakes Campus presidency. During November and December, 2012, he concurrently served as interim president of the Auburn Hills Campus. He is also very active in the community and has won numerous awards from civic, education and professional organizations.
• Stan Jensen, served as president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College (CMC) for almost five years. CMC is a growing institution that is ranked first in Colorado and 17th in the nation for student success, as measured by graduation rates and transfer rates. The western Colorado college comprises 22,000 students and eight campuses with 12 locations in areas that include Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, Glenwood Springs. As a higher education administrator, Dr. Jensen has focused on strategic planning for college growth, program development, resource development, strategic technology adoption and leadership. His presidency has reflected strong growth in enrollment, retention, revenues, assets, reserves, doubling of the endowment, improved technology and building of new physical facilities. Dr. Jensen is a published author of three books on the topics of leadership and team building.
• Valerie R. Roberson has served as a community college administrator for 20 years. Currently, she is vice president of Academic Affairs at Joliet Junior College. Joliet is recognized as the nation’s first public community college and serves approximately 15,600 college credit students in more than 100 degree and certificate programs. Community College Times recognized Joliet Junior College as one of the top 100 associate degree producers in the nation (June, 2012) as a result of college efforts and projects that Dr. Roberson led.
Previously, she served as president of Olive-Harvey College, of the City Colleges of Chicago, for more than five years. Olive-Harvey College serves approximately 7,500 students annually from a predominately African-American, and growing Hispanic population on the southeast side of Chicago. Dr. Roberson was appointed interim president and was then selected as permanent president from a national pool of candidates.
• Reginald L. Gerlica, is currently an instructor of English and World Languages at Henry Ford Community College. Previously, he served HFCC as vice president of Academic Affairs for Arts & Sciences from 2007 to 2012. He has also served as the associate dean of English and World Languages and has been at HFCC since 1984. During his career at HFCC, he contributed to numerous projects, including service as the core team leader of the national Achieving the Dream Initiative. He has also co-chaired several major task forces geared toward providing services and support to students.
These included efforts focused on tutoring services, service learning and retention. Dr. Gerlica also served as administrative chair of the College’s general education assessment committee, which reviewed and assessed the College’s general education requirements. Other responsibilities included work on the First Year Experience program, Higher Learning Commission’s Degree Qualification Profile Review, Retention Alert, School and University Relations and the Arab Cultural Studies Program.
• Wilfredo (Will) Arvelo, oversaw the construction of a new $15 million campus while serving as the president of Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, N.H. Since 2007, when he first became president, under his leadership, enrollement has increased by 30% at the college and the number of online courses went up by 35%. From 2004 to 2007 he served as vice president of corporate and external relations.
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