Women in Higher Education Leadership

Hannah Brown, Kathryn Skulley, Ph.D. , Ann McCalley, Ph.D. Ashley Maloney

American Association of Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) Mile High Chapter invites attendees to engage in authentic conversation with women leaders in higher education. Hear their stories and learn from their experiences while incorporating lessons into your journey.

Hannah Brown earned her Masters of Science in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University. She currently works as the Director of New Student Onboarding & Orientation at Front Range Community College and is coming up on her 16th year at FRCC. She is passionate about debunking the community college stigma and working towards social justice.

Dr. Ann McCalley is Dean of Instruction at the Community College of Denver. While Director of Student Learning Support & Testing Center, she served as the CCCS Academic Support/Tutoring Functional Group Leader and President of the AAWCC Mile-High Chapter. Other roles include teacher, faculty development and peer teacher mentor, enrollment, advising, financial aid, and disability services at a variety of secondary institution types. Dr. McCalley earned a Ph.D. in Leadership for Higher Education and Post Master’s Certificate Noel-Levitz Enrollment Management from Capella University. Dr. McCalley has presented on the topics of enrollment, student success, and teaching learning at professional conferences.

Dr. Kathryn Skulley empowers women, as students and educators, to realize their educational, professional, and personal goals by maximizing their potential through education. As Community College of Aurora’s Executive Level Dean of Assessment, Strategy, and Performance Excellence, she oversees college accreditation, institutional assessment, integrated strategic planning, grant development, and institutional research. In her 30-years of higher education service, she has held various positions, such as Dean of Students; Student Services Director; faculty member; program chair; and Academic Services Assistant Director. She has an earned doctorate in Higher Education Student Affairs Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado.

Closing Equity Gaps Through
Intentional Assignment Design

Marty Church, Eric Salahub

FRCC has completed a 3-year cycle assessing college-wide Student Learning Outcomes, and data analysis showed interesting results. JUST AS INTERESTING is the story behind creating our approach to assessment: the design and roll out of our assessment protocol, skills and experiences developed working with outside consulting, application leading to our in-house artifact assessment process, and procedures for data analysis that lead closing equity gaps and culturally responsive educational environments. Attending this lecture/presentation provides key insights for developing equity-effective assessment processes, engaging faculty at multiple levels of participation, leveraging CMS for data collection, and streamlining an assessment program.

Eric Salahub has been part of the Philosophy faculty at FRCC Larimer Campus since 1999. Over the past 10 years, Eric’s main teaching and research focus is in Active Learning and related issues including equitable student success, assessment of student learning, and fostering academic integrity. Eric is the co-creator and director of the Active Learning Institute, a semester-long professional development program focused on evidence-based approaches to course design aimed at improving student success and closing equity opportunity gaps.

Marty Church is English Faculty and Assessment Fellow at Front Range Community College, where he also serves as Instructional Coach and Student Learning Institute facilitator. Marty is passionate about working with developmental education students and closing equity gaps in higher ed

CCC Online Library: You Won’t
Believe What Your College Library
is Up to Now

Laura Puls, Marcus Elmore

The CCC Online Library is now open to all students 24/7, with live chat! From arts to zoology, the collection covers a variety of academic subjects, including resources with multiple viewpoints and an emphasis on social inclusion. Do we have your favorite journal? Come find out! You will learn about the equity lens that informs this Colorado Online project. You will practice digging into the collection to match resources with your class objectives. You will try out features and services intended to improve students’ research experience. You will leave with strategies to engage students in finding and applying discipline-specific knowledge.

Laura Puls (she/her), MLIS, is the Senior Librarian at FRCC’s Larimer Campus. She loves working with students to answer their research questions and “upselling” them on what else they can get for free at the library!

Engaging Students and Faculty
Through High Impact Practices

JoEllen Becco, Robin Schofield, Sylva Miller

High Impact Practices are teaching and learning strategies that are positively associated with student success and deeper learning. They work for students in higher education by engaging them in the learning process through applied, socio-academic, and student-centered projects. HIPs are good for adult learners, workforce readiness, and general education outcomes. In a long-term, Lumina-funded study on the Tennessee Community College System (2021), researchers found that HIPs are good for community college students too, especially for students who are historically underrepresented in college success measures. In fall of 2022, Chancellor Joe Garcia delivered the keynote for the HIPs in the States track at the IUPUI National Assessment Conference in Indianapolis. In 2021, CCCS embraced these transformational practices through grant funding for a professional development workshop on HIPs and through a statewide functional group on High Impact Equity Practices. This asynchronous faculty training course on High Impact Practices couples expert facilitation with coaching for partner colleges. The goal is to provide high quality, interactive pedagogical training in equity practices that is both interpersonal and accessible to faculty and instructors across the state of Colorado. Join us to learn more about the workshop, the functional group, and how to “connect” with faculty across the system.

Professor Robin Schofield, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Teaching and Learning Transformation Hub at the Community College of Aurora, boasts an impressive academic and professional background. With more than 35 years of experience as an educator in higher education, she brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep commitment to pedagogical excellence. Holding both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English from Arizona State University, Schofield’s academic foundation is strong, and she is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership with a specific focus on equity—a testament to her dedication to advancing equitable and evidence-based teaching practices in community college learning spaces. Her expertise and leadership undoubtedly make her a driving force in the field, inspiring positive change and fostering inclusive educational environments.

Professor Sylva Miller has been a valued and productive faculty member in the English Department at Pikes Peak State College for over 20 years. Currently, she’s a High Impact Practice’s lead and facilitator for the HIPs workshop offered through the CCCS’s Teaching Excellence Grant. During her tenure at Pikes Peak State College, Professor Miller has been involved with the eLearning Consortium of Colorado, Faculty Senate, PPSC’s service learning, and concurrent enrollment oversight. She plays a pivotal role in advancing effective pedagogical approaches through faculty mentorship. This year she is working on growing the Journalism Dept. and the college’s online student newspaper.

Professor JoEllen Becco is an accomplished educator with a rich academic background that underscores her dedication to high-impact teaching practices. Holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from DePauw University and a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa, her academic foundation is robust and diverse. Her achievements include being a recipient of the CCCS Teaching Excellence Grant, which speaks volumes to her commitment to innovative and effective pedagogy. With a 19-year tenure as a professor at Pikes Peak State College, she has consistently demonstrated her passion for teaching, mentoring, and inspiring the next generation. She has served as the Writing Program Chair, led the study abroad program, co-created and led The Community Table, PPSC’s food pantry. Becco continues to champion high-impact practices and elevate the educational experience for all students.

Adult Learning: Design and Development for Rightful Presence and Belonging

Kae Novak, Dolly Rosenbrook

For the past two years, FRCC through Perkins funding has offered the Adult Learning Academy for its CTE course re-designs. The objective of these course re-designs was to meet the needs of working adult learners to include their rightful presence and belonging. This included andragogy (adult learning theory), relevance to the career field, student engagement and satisfaction, compressed course timelines and inclusion of non-dominant populations. This interactive workshop will have participants collaboratively working on a design and development plan to create courses and programs that consider flexibility, activation of prior knowledge and incorporate a sense of belongingness for adult students.

Kae Novak has fifteen years of experience in online learning and is the Assistant Director, Learning Design at Front Range Community College. She teaches multimedia, computer information systems, and marketing courses in the Colorado Community College Systems. She is the Co-Chair of the eLearning Consortium of Colorado and for the past three years has led the organization in its annual virtual and hybrid conferences. She is currently doing research on online learning, immersive learning experiences and social justice. Her most recent publication is co-authoring a chapter titled Constructivism for Active, Authentic Learning.

Dolly Rosenbrook is chair for Business for Creative Industries and faculty of Multimedia Graphic Design (MGD) at Front Range Community College (FRCC). Her focus is on building equitable opportunities for higher education degree attainment. She has over 15 years of online teaching experience for graphic communication arts and digital media at various institutions, including the University of Maryland Global Campus. She is dedicated to serving career and technical education students through leadership for adult learning and online curriculum design.