{"id":30610,"date":"2013-08-01T19:32:14","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T23:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:11:07","slug":"new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/","title":{"rendered":"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NECC

NECC Dean of Professional Development<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t ask Linda Meccouri to recount a favorite quote, because as a self-professed quoteaholic she has many \u2013 all of which have a commonality \u2013 positivity.<\/p>\n

Positivity is just one of the countless attributes Meccouri, who holds a PhD in Instructional Technology and Multicultural Teacher Education, carries into her new role as dean of professional development at Northern Essex. She officially took up residence in C206 August 1.<\/p>\n

Meccouri comes to Northern Essex from Springfield Technical Community College where she served as professional development coordinator. Previously she was a professor and chair of the computer science and information systems department at Holyoke Community College.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come with fresh eyes, an optimistic spirit, and good work ethic,\u201d says the Roxbury native. \u201c\u2026and I was gifted with energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first in her family to graduate from both high school and college, Linda does not shy away from her street-smart pedigree. Time spent in foster homes gave her friends she calls family as well as the desire to improve her situation through education.<\/p>\n

After earning a Master\u2019s degree from Antioch College, she drew on her roots and worked as a community organizer. A colleague recognized Meccouri\u2019s quick, analytical mind and suggested she pursue advanced study in programming. She did and it changed her life. She briefly worked as a programmer analyst and trainer in a large corporation, and was lured to a one-year position teaching at the college level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell for teaching,\u201d she says. \u201cTeaching is sacred to me. I have enjoyed a rich teaching career.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 25 years she trained her energy on teaching, learning, and student development in the under graduate and graduate classroom. After years in front of the class, it felt fitting for Meccouri to segue into professional development and impart her \u201cservant leader philosophy\u201d. Once in, Meccouri fully embraced professional development and enjoyed years working with faculty and staff at STCC and HCC.<\/p>\n

It was no coincidence, she says, that several years ago her path and Judith Kamber\u2019s path bisected. Kamber, NECC\u2019s past dean of professional development, was host of the Community College Leadership Academy (CCLA). Meccouri was charged with creating a professional development center. She spoke with Kamber on several occasions taking from those conversations a core idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cNECC\u2019s program just made the most sense. I admired the way the college thinks about its faculty and its staff,\u201d she said. \u201cI used Northern Essex as a model to design the professional development center and programs at STCC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meccouri says she felt guided, as she often does, to apply for the NECC position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t looking to move, but when I read the job description, I could not resist. For me this was a dream job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The open forum with NECC staff and faculty reaffirmed this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like these could be my people, just like the faculty and staff I have worked with,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

A fan and facilitator of Appreciative Inquiry and Strengths Quest, Meccouri says connectedness is her top strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wish and my hope is that through connectedness and collaboration Northern Essex continues to serve as a model for others,\u201d she says. \u201cIn professional development I never get bored seeing the strengths of others. I\u2019m always enthused to hear other people\u2019s ideas. I love to see the best in people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her own professional best, she says, is her work with faculty and staff creating and facilitating programs that connect them to each other as well as their \u201cown best selves\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her personal best, she says, without question has been raising three sons to become \u201cexceptional, compassionate, good men\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meccouri looks for the good and finds it in programs and people. Her personal mantra is \u201cpresume goodwill\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will work with the college\u2019s goal of expanding the culture of learning across the campus,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to be aware of and sustain all the good work here, and add to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A jazz singer in her younger days, Meccouri is a Latin dancer, especially Salsa (a holdover from her youth). She carries a Superman lunch bag, complete with miniature cape, and proudly describes herself as a \u201cgeek at heart\u201d. \u201cI love gadgets as long as they serve me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her favorite apps are Honk, Google Maps, and Evernote and she admits to \u201cliving in the cloud\u201d. Meccouri is also a raconteur who can easily shift from tech talk to a tale of King Tiberius to illustrate a point.<\/p>\n

But truly, it is helping to facilitate learning that makes her happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people learn\u2026that is most exciting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t ask Linda Meccouri to recount a favorite quote, because as a self-professed quoteaholic she has many \u2013 all of which have a commonality \u2013 positivity. Positivity is just one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t ask Linda Meccouri to recount a favorite quote, because as a self-professed quoteaholic she has many \u2013 all of which have a commonality \u2013 positivity. Positivity is just one […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-01T23:32:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T21:11:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellen Small-Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/\",\"name\":\"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-01T23:32:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-18T21:11:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c\",\"name\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ellen Small-Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News","og_description":"Don\u2019t ask Linda Meccouri to recount a favorite quote, because as a self-professed quoteaholic she has many \u2013 all of which have a commonality \u2013 positivity. Positivity is just one […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2013-08-01T23:32:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-18T21:11:07+00:00","author":"Ellen Small-Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ellen Small-Davis","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/","name":"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-08-01T23:32:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-18T21:11:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/08\/01\/new-dean-of-professional-development-joins-necc\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Dean of Professional Development Joins NECC"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/1482c1e2b61df3b1955e30860d9a769c","name":"Ellen Small-Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84a1f8e7e823ce7cabaa92618226fd3ba7a7bcee8e352db85821e8ea1e9c86fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ellen Small-Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/esmalldavis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30611,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30610\/revisions\/30611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}