<\/p>\n
Local community college presidents, Lane Glenn of Northern Essex and James Mabry of Middlesex, have a lot in common with the students who attend their colleges.<\/p>\n
Glenn attended Rose State College, an Oklahoma community college before completing his bachelor\u2019s degree at Northeastern State University, also in Oklahoma, and Mabry, like many community college students, didn\u2019t get a serious start on his college education until he was 26.<\/p>\n
Both went on to earn PhD\u2019s and become presidents, and believe their own experiences have made them better prepared to lead their respective institutions.<\/p>\n
The two were the featured speakers at the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Education Conference titled \u201cA Conversation with the Presidents\u201d which was held on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Andover.<\/p>\n
Jim Carnevale of Raytheon, chair of the chamber\u2019s education committee and moderator of the conversation, asked them a series of questions about workforce development and the community college mission.<\/p>\n
Community colleges, according to Mabry, educate more than half of the students currently enrolled in public higher education in the United States. \u201cOur students are intensely local, living within five miles of our campuses.\u00a0 When you invest in public higher education, you\u2019re investing in the core of your workforce.\u00a0\u00a0 These are the people who are going to stay here and be critical to the success of this economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third of Northern Essex Community College students are enrolled in health care programs, said Glenn, and almost as many are in STEM programs preparing for high demand careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.\u00a0 The college also provides corporate training, providing local employers with the training needed to grow the skills of their workforce.<\/p>\n
Glenn is proud of the college\u2019s police academy and is looking forward to the college\u2019s new culinary and hospitality program, which will open at The Heights on Merrimack Street in Haverhill this coming year.<\/p>\n
Middlesex has a new clean lab for its life science program, a new performing arts center with a 140-seat theater, and a cyber-security program, which leads to careers for associate degree graduates.<\/p>\n
In closing Carnevale asked each president what advice they would have for a young person interested in success.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou miss 100 percent of the shots you don\u2019t take,\u201d said Glenn.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou have to be in the game.\u00a0\u00a0 Get a goal and work toward it and don\u2019t think you have to do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Mabry referred to his own late start in higher education which he believes gave him an edge.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI had learned how to work hard and take care of myself.\u00a0\u00a0 This was critical in my success in raising my game.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He also said he would tell students \u2018you don\u2019t have to do this alone.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAt Middlesex, we find students the resources they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Local community college presidents, Lane Glenn of Northern Essex and James Mabry of Middlesex, have a lot in common with the students who attend their colleges. Glenn attended Rose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"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-31291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n