FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 17, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC-The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT)and the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP), College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today announced that trustees and presidents from community and technical colleges in Ohio gave testimony to the powerful advancements being made on behalf of students at the 2012 Governance Institute for Student Success-Ohio. The 2012 GISS was an evolution of the September 2010 institutes held in Dublin, Ohio.

The success of the institutes held two years ago laid a strong foundation for Ohio's community colleges to begin restructuring their governance with a greater emphasis on student success and completion.  At the 2012 institute, leaders from the state's colleges fueled future action by sharing successes as well as the challenges and barriers they have faced while implementing student success agendas.  

"We were very excited to be a part of the 2012 Governance Institute for Student Success - Ohio," said Ron Abrams, President of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges. "Many of the trustees of Ohio's 23 community colleges who attended found the sessions to be very beneficial and believe they will help lead to better governance at our institutions that focuses on student success and completion."

"We are excited to reconvene trustees and presidents from throughout the state of Ohio to assess progress to date, and plan the next steps," said Dr. Byron McClenney, project director of Achieving the Dream at The University of Texas at Austin. "Acknowledging the significant number of new trustees in the state, this follow-up institute gives Ohio community and technical college leaders a chance to explore what they have learned about what works, what policy measures are having an impact, and what governance practices have been successful to date."

"The Association of Community College Trustees is proud to continue the vital work of the Governance Institute for Student Success partnership with CCLP and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," said ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown. "GISS is an important component to ACCT's student- success and completion commitment, and it has proven to advance both conversation and action at the statewide level."

The 2012 Governance Institute for Student Success-Ohio was held from April 11 - 13 at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capital Square in Columbus, bringing together 41 leaders from Ohio community and technical colleges.

"I attended the first Governance Institute for Student Success in September of 2010. This has been a great follow-up to the first institute. It has re-inspired me to take back to my board...many new ideas to continue our work and move our process of upgrading programs for student success," said Ken Schilling, chair of the board of trustees at Washington State Community College in Ohio.  

"The success of the pilot institutes held over the past two years in Ohio, Washington, and Texas confirmed the need for the important work of the Governance Institute for Student Success project," said Jim Larimore, deputy director for student success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Bringing the institute back to Ohio gives us an opportunity to talk to the trustees and presidents who have delved into this endeavor and have valuable experiences to share. Their input will play a crucial role in the future evolution of the institutes and will provide valuable lessons for trustees and presidents across the nation."

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About the Governance Institute for Student Success

The Governance Institute for Student Success's mission is to foster student success through effective governance.  The Governance Institute for Student Success is a national initiative designed to provide a governance leadership model that will identify key policy decisions, actions, and levers for institutional transformation that trustees and presidents can utilize throughout the country to support innovation, accountability, and work to break the logjam of developmental education and improve student success and completion.  The Governance Institute for Student Success is a collaboration between the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP), College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), with support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  For more information, visit www.governance-institute.org.

About the Association of Community College Trustees

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern over 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States and beyond.   These community professionals, business officials, public policy leaders, and leading citizens offer their time and talent to serve on the governing boards of this century's most innovative higher education institutions-community, junior, and technical colleges-and make decisions that affect more than 1,200 colleges and over 11 million students annually.  For more information, visit www.acct.org.

About the Community College Leadership Program

The Community College Leadership Program (CCLP), in the College of Education, at The University of Texas at Austin, has an impressive national reputation for graduating the highest number of doctoral students to become community college CEOs and senior administrators in the country. Its reach further extends through a significant array of nationally recognized initiatives, including its key role in Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, the California Leadership Alliance for Student Success (CLASS), Student Success Institutes, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Developmental Education Initiative, The Ford Foundation-funded Bridges to Opportunity, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, and the National Institute for Staff and Organization Development.  For more information, visit  http://utcclp.org/.

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