April 15, 2026
Thank you to everyone who attended the annual convention in Seattle. I was inspired by the energy and engagement of each and every one of you. I’m grateful for the feedback on the Strategic Compass 2035–both formal and informal. If you have additional comments, or weren’t able to be in Seattle, I’m eager to hear your thoughts on the strategy through this feedback form—just for presidents, chancellors, and CEOs—available for the next 30 days.
I want to highlight a few of the leadership moments I experienced at the convention. My conversation with Matthew Desmond, author of “Poverty, by America,” was one of them. He called community colleges “poverty abolitionists.” His passion for poverty-reduction runs straight through our shared mission and his creative use of public data to track impacts was a powerful model of transforming data into information that informs policy.
Nicole Lynn Lewis, the founder and executive director of Generation Hope, was another inspirational speaker at the Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Reception. She has turned her personal journey of teen parenthood while in college into a movement to support more student parents as they navigate barriers to educational and personal success. Her achievements in this space are such an inspiration—as were the accomplishments of the Parnell faculty honorees
AACC is thrilled that Monty Sullivan, former Louisiana Community and Technical College System has been named by the U.S. Department of Education as the lead public institution negotiator for the 2026 Accreditation, Innovation and Modernization Committee Negotiated Rulemaking. We are proud that Dr. Sullivan’s expertise is being recognized. AACC is closely watching the negotiated rulemaking for potential impacts on our sector. Updates will follow as the committee’s work progresses. Last week, AACC submitted its final comments to the U.S. Department of Education on Workforce Pell in conjunction with ACCT. Thank you to everyone who contributed their voices.
I am traveling to Georgia today, to visit Savannah State University, then on to Ottawa, Canada, next week for the conference of the Colleges and Institutes of Canada, the association of Canada’s 135 public colleges, institutes, and polytechnical schools.
This week I’m sharing three tools for resilience: First, AACC continues to partner with Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands, which announced its plan to invest $10 million in the next 3 years through the Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI). MSI has served 13,000 community college students over 7 years, promoting technical education as pathways to well-paying jobs. Metallica Scholars applications are due April 27.
Second, Apprenticeships for America’s recorded webinar has some valuable insights on how cities and counties are turning to apprenticeships to build skilled talent pipelines. Finally, an April 21 webinar on registered apprenticeships in healthcare offers a practical conversation with state and intermediary leaders on funding structure, implementation strategies, and opportunities to support rural employers. This session can be a very useful tool for using the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Rural Health Transformation Grants.