Agenda - 09-01-2015-11a - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 Page 2 of 3 Gerald Ponder Durham Technical Community College Board of Trustees Background, education and experience relevant to this board: I outlined my experience and expertise to a great degree in my response to question 1. Specifically, though, I believe that I have extensive experience and expertise in A. data-based decision making through my time on the school board and through my administrative career. B. Curriculum policy and instructional practice, including distance education and technology- based teaching and learning applications as well as research-based and effective instructional models. C. Student engagement and success practices that enhance re-enrollment and graduation rates. Reasons for wanting to serve on this board: I have both personal and professional knowledge reasons, as well as a commitment to the mission of community colleges, for wanting to serve. While I have never taught or served as administrator at a Community College, I had a 42 year career as an educator both at the K-12 and higher education levels in 4 states. In North Carolina, I was department head at UNCG in a department where I initiated a community college emphasis as a graduate program. A number of Conmunity College leaders, including Don Cameron, then President of GTCC, served as advisors for the initiative. I also served as major advisor for several doctoral candidates who have since become Community College leaders, including Walter Bartlett, President of Piedmont Community College in Roxboro. Most recently I served as Associate Dean at NC State in the College of Education, which houses the Higher Education program and has a long history of preparing community college leaders. I also taught a course in college teaching for some years, a course which included a number of Community College teachers. While in Texas, I served two terms on the Denton, Texas, School Board, so I have experience at putting the interests of students and the community above personal agendas. On a personal note, I have a strong belief in the mission of community colleges, and I strongly support the political directions of President Obama and the Democratic Presidentual candidates to make Community College tuition-free as a way to build the capacity of young citizens in commerce, community, and citizenship. On another personal note, my daughter is the CEO of a Chicago nonprofit called One Million Degrees (OMD). OMD's mission is to provide scholarship and soft skills development to community college students in Chicago so they will have a more successful transition to a corporate career and a middle class lifestyle. In many ways, this mission of providing academic and workforce training to yield a better family and civic life epitomizes the mission I see for community colleges. Conflict of Interest: Supplemental Questions: Durham Technical Community College Board of Trustees What improvements do you believe can be made so that DTCC better serves the residents of Orange County? I think that each recommendation for improvements has to be tempered with the caveat that community colleges in North Carolina have been historically underfunded, a situation made worse by recent budget actions by the legislature. Nevertheless, there are improvements that