The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has announced the inaugural cohort of the ATE Future Leaders Fellows program, a new initiative to help two-year college professionals develop their leadership skills and raise awareness of STEM technician education programs.
The program aims to develop community college leaders with the competencies to support business and industry relationships, build STEM capacity, and support a campus culture of innovation to prepare students for the future of work, according to AACC.
With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, the selected fellows will participate in one of two key AACC professional development programs, the John E. Roueche Future Leaders Institute or the Future Presidents Institute. They also will serve as ATE ambassadors to help raise awareness of the STEM technician education landscape, and the opportunities and resources available through ATE.
The four fellows for the 2024-2025 program are:
- Cheryl Burrell, biotechnology program coordinator at Forsyth Technical Community College (North Carolina)
- Marni Danhauer, dean of community and workforce education at Central Community College (Nebraska)
- Rolynda Potter, head of the engineering systems technology department at Chattanooga State Community College (Tennessee)
- Matthew Swenson, grants director at Green River College (Washington)
AACC has successfully partnered with NSF through its ATE program for more than 30 years and hosts an annual ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference and Community College Innovation Challenge, and also runs the MentorLinks mentoring program. These activities, coupled with the new ATE Future Leaders Fellows program, serve to:
- Broaden the impact of community college leadership in advancing STEM technician education.
- Create venues for developing and nurturing STEM professional and leadership development opportunities for two-year college administrators, faculty and students.
- Cultivate innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Support institutional STEM capacity-building.
- Raise awareness of the valuable contributions and resources of community colleges working in STEM technician education.
