Monday, August 22, 2022
CVTC President, Provost chosen as Aspen Institute Fellows
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) announced today that Chippewa Valley Technical College President Sunem Beaton-Garcia is one of 26 leaders selected for the 2022-23 class of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship. And CVTC Provost Lynette Livingston, is one of 31 leaders selected for the 2022-23 class of the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship.
CVTC President Sunem Beaton-Garcia
The New Presidents Fellowship, made possible with support from JPMorgan Chase, assists community college presidents in the early years of their tenure as they work to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success.
This class of fellows represents the diversity of our nation’s community colleges, collectively serving over 250,000 students at colleges in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The incoming class of New Presidents Fellows is 46 percent female and 65 percent are people of color. Located in 19 states, their institutions too, are diverse, from a tribal college with fewer than 300 students to an urban college that educates more than 35,000 each year.
“As the first female and first Latina president at Chippewa Valley Technical College, I believe I have a perspective that helps me guide our students and meet them where they are to foster lifelong learning,” Beaton-Garcia said. “We have work to do at CVTC to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success and being chosen for the fellowship is an additional step in the right direction.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with the Aspen Institute and other professionals in higher education toward this important goal.”
The fellows, selected through a competitive process, will work closely with other transformational community college presidents and Aspen leaders over nine months to learn from field-leading research, analyze their colleges’ student outcomes, and clarify their visions for excellent and equitable outcomes for students while in college and after they graduate.
CVTC Provost Lynette Livingston
The Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship, delivered in collaboration with the Stanford Educational Leadership Initiative, prepares the next generation of community college presidents to transform institutions to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to learn more about equitability in post-secondary education, and to implement what I’ve learned to effect student success,” Livingston said. “This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m honored to be chosen.”
Many sitting community college presidents plan to retire in the next decade, creating vacancies and an opportunity to diversify college leadership. Aspen Presidential Fellows represent the next generation of college leadership: this incoming class of Aspen Rising Presidents Fellows is 70 percent female, and 54 percent are people of color. The institutions they represent are also diverse, located in 16 states, from small rural colleges to large urban campuses.
“The leaders that come through the Rising Presidents Fellowship continually inspire us,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program. “We are motivated by the dedication and expertise that our fellows bring to advancing excellence and equity on their campuses, and we look forward to supporting their work.”
