New Oakton president wants to keep tuition affordable, up graduation rates
Incoming Oakton Community College President Joianne Smith is a psychologist by training - a background that may prove useful in examining some of the pressing demands on the Des Plaines-based higher learning institution, from keeping tuition rates affordable, to getting more students to graduate.
After a months-long nationwide search, Oakton's board of trustees ended up looking down the hallway, tapping Smith, one of their top administrators, to become the school's next president. Smith, currently vice president of student affairs, will become the fourth president in Oakton's 45-year history, school officials announced Friday.
Smith joined Oakton in July 2002 as its dean of students, and in 2005 was appointed to head the Office of Student Affairs.
"I never thought I'd be a college president," said Smith, who was raised in upstate New York. "I wasn't actively seeking to be a president, though I did and do want to lead Oakton. It's not about being a college president to me. It's about leading an institution I love and believe in."
Smith will succeed current President Margaret Lee, who retires in June after a total of 30 years at the college - the last 20 as president.
The school board is expected to take formal action to name Smith to the job at its Tuesday, March 17, meeting.
Among the issues top on Smith's priority list: increase the rates of student graduation and persistence, a measurement that shows how many students remain enrolled from one semester to the next. She especially wants to see those rates increase for minority students, and to that end, the college has partnered with Achieving the Dream, a national organization aimed at closing the achievement gap.
"One of the beautiful things about community colleges is we're reflective of our students," she said. "Our community has changed, so our students have changed. We're fluid and flexible to meeting the changing needs of our community."
Smith predicted "modest" tuition increases, since state funding of Oakton has become increasingly unreliable, she said, though the college would also pursue grant funding as another revenue source.
She said Oakton would also work to increase partnerships with high schools and businesses.
A 15-member presidential search committee, composed of two members of the board of trustees, students, faculty, administrators, alumni and the Oakton Educational Foundation, reviewed nearly 40 resumes of applicants and narrowed the list down to nine. After conducting interviews, the search committee presented the board of trustees with three finalists: Smith; Kristine M. Young, vice president for academic services and chief academic officer at Parkland College in Champaign; and Edythe Abdullah, special advisor to the president at University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Abdullah later withdrew for personal reasons.
"After an extensive national search, the board of trustees easily reached consensus to appoint Dr. Smith as Oakton's next president," board Chairman Bill Stafford said in a news release. "Dr. Smith has served the college with excellence and innovation for the past 12 years. Her dedication to student success, tenacity with achieving the college's goals and genuine affection for Oakton and the community made her the board's choice to lead the college into the future."
Smith and Young participated in daylong interview sessions open to Oakton employees.
"Dr. Smith enjoyed strong support among Oakton's full-time faculty," said Katherine Schuster, the Faculty Association's president who was a member of the search committee. "My colleagues and I look forward to working with her to further Oakton's efforts for national leadership with matters of equity and diversity, and to continue the college's progress in addressing disparities in the area of student success."
Smith, a Glenview resident, moved to the Chicago area in 2001 when her husband took a faculty position at Northwestern University in the psychology department. Smith served as the university's assistant director of residential life for a year before coming to Oakton. She previously served as dean of Brainerd Commons, a living-learning residential community at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.
She has doctorate and master of science degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Smith will officially assume her new position July 1.
Oakton, based in Des Plaines with a satellite campus in Skokie, serves 17 suburbs primarily on the North Shore.