Name: Avis Proctor
Job Title: President
Institution: Harper College (IL)
Since: 2019
Previous Positions: Broward College: Campus President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Mathematics, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Associate Director for the Faculty Mentor Project; Pine Crest School: Upper School Mathematics Teacher, Boarding School Dormitory Supervisor.
Affiliations and/or Boards: AACC – Public Policy and Government Relations Board Committee; AACC – Commission on Institutional Infrastructure & Transformation; AACC – President’s Academy Executive Committee; AACC – Commission on Economic and Workforce Development; Barrington Bank & Trust, N.A. – A Wintrust Community Bank, Board of Directors; Barrington Civic Leaders, Member; Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, National Advisory Board member; Community Colleges for International Development (CCID), Board of Directors and Past Treasurer; Community College Workforce Consortium, Member; Courageous Conversations – Advisory Group Member; Meet Chicago Northwest (MCNW), Past Member, Board of Directors; Northern Illinois Workforce Coalition (NIWC), Governing Board Member; Northwest Educational Council for Student Success (NECSS), Past Board Chair.
State Engagement: Illinois Council of Community College Presidents, Current Chair (2025-2026); Courageous Conversations – Advisory Group; Barrington Civic Leaders, Member; Early Childhood Education Consortium, Past Member
Senate Higher Education Committee ECE CCB; Governor signed bill into law – Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity; Illinois Board of Higher Education Strategic Plan Financial Aid/Debt Design Work Group, Member; Northern Illinois Workforce Coalition, Member; Northwest Educational Council for Student Success, Past Board Chair.
Past AACC Conventions Attended: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.
Past AACC Professional Development Participation: AACC – Public Policy and Government Relations Board Committee; Commission on Institutional Infrastructure & Transformation; Advocates in Action; President’s Academy Executive Committee; Commission on Economic and Workforce Development; Advisory Board on Community College Apprenticeships; Workforce Development Institute; AACC Future President’s Institute – participant and panelist after assuming presidency; AACC National Guided Pathways Initiative; AACC New CEO Academy.
AACC National Conference Presentations or other national presentations:
- New Trustee Orientation: Building Knowledge, Establishing Trust
- Regulatory Swirl: What’s Coming Next from President Trump on Higher Education Regulations
- Data Driven Workforce Development
- SOARing to Success: Using Data to Improve the Student Experience
- “The Non-Cognitive Dimension of your Student Success Agenda: The Next Big Thing!”
- “The Power of Execution: The Greatest Secret for a Successful Student Success Agenda”
- “Collaborative Intervention Leads to More Effective Outcomes in Workplace Education”
Education: Ed.D., Higher Education, Florida International University; M.S., Teaching Mathematics, Florida Atlantic University; B.S. Mathematics Education, Florida A&M University.
Other: The nominee has given multiple presentations on the state/national level via several conferences/convenings/webinars for ACCT, ATD, Center for American Progress, Aspen Institute, Belk Center for Community College Leaders at North Carolina State University on variety of topics ranging from advancing equity in student success to institutional financial planning in a pandemic.
Community Relations as a Path for Building Resilience 2025
Regulatory Swirl: What’s Coming Next from President Trump on Higher Education Regulations 2024
Data Driven Workforce Development 2024
SOARing to Success: Using Data to Improve the Student Experience 2024
New Trustee Orientation: Building Knowledge, Establishing Trust 2023
Effective Leadership in a Time of Sustained Crisis 2022
Developing and Implementing Anti-Racist and Equitable Policies, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, National Community Call, January 2021
Dallas Herring Lecture respondent, Belk Center for Community College Leadership, North Carolina State University, November 2020
Prioritizing Student Success through Innovative Funding Model, ACCT Leadership Congress, October 2020
How Open-Access Institutions Center Equity During a Health, Economic and Racial Crisis, Community Colleges Leading the Way, Center for American Progress, August 2020
Fall Scenario Planning in Response to COVID-19, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Webinar Session, May 2020
Keeping the Promise: The Financial Sustainability of the College Promise Movement, ATD DREAM 2020, February 2020
The College Promise Outlook for 2020 and Beyond, ACCT National Legislative Summit, February 2020
Supporting the Use of OER College Wide: What, Why, How?, In the Know Forum, ACCT Leadership Congress, October 2019
Defining Institutional Success through Student Success Diversity and Democracy, Fall 2017
Promising Practices Concurrent Session at the USDOE Minority Serving Community Colleges Convening: Uniting for Student Success – Transforming the Student Success Agenda via Pathway Communities at Broward College, November 2016
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