November 5, 2025
As the federal government shutdown extends, more of our students may be affected. Please opens in a new windowlet us know any impacts your campuses may be experiencing so that AACC can continue reporting to Capitol Hill. We are particularly interested in any impacts on students that the cancelation of TRIO programs might be having and any creative ways that our colleges are filling the gaps.
My remarks to a leadership development conference at the Community College of Baltimore County last week in Maryland addressed the opportunities of “Leadership in a Changing Time.” I shared some of the framework for my own vision of community college leadership, which includes nurturing community benefit and civic infrastructure, innovating in the public interest, and advancing fairness. I was deeply inspired to see how many deans, chairs, faculty, and vice presidents are eagerly seeking more skills, inspiration, and direction to inform their leadership progress. From the questions I received from the audience, I recognize the hunger for tools that can further build leadership capacity among AACC member institutions.
Hearing directly from community college students is always a highlight for me, and I relished it at the annual Advanced Technological Education (ATE) conference in Washington, DC, last week. Students from more than 240 community colleges participated, showcasing their strengths with opens in a new windowdynamic poster sessions and serving on panels with faculty. About 800 National Science Foundation grantees attended, providing students and industry partners with remarkable opportunities to network and learn from others. The event was a rich professional development opportunity for our students who got to experience pathways from learning to workplace application.
As our colleges continue to build the pipeline of skilled workers in our communities, events like these empower our students for leadership roles in our future economy, while serving industry and businesses that depend on such talent.
Expanding career pathways and career readiness is a priority for the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) grant programs, and also a focus in the recent opens in a new windowResilient by Design report. Last week I opens in a new windowsubmitted comments on behalf of our members to ED, highlighting AACC’s alignment with efforts to support workforce development and urging careful application of rules in the final version.
Since intensified competition in the higher education space is another element highlighted in Resilient by Design, AACC is also working to protect our sector with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). I urged the VA and Congress to work with ED and the higher education community to modernize some definitions while keeping in place guardrails that protect the integrity of the GI Bill. As always, I am thrilled to be able to send these messages personally to federal agencies in Washington, DC. I’m also grateful to our partner, the American Council on Education, whom we joined in opens in a new windowthis important communication.