(Butler, PA) “It’s not necessarily the impact you have in your state capitol,” a futurist who predicts the decentralization of higher education said in 2017 to an audience that included Dr. Nick Neupauer, president of Butler County Community College. “It’s about the influence you have in your own backyard.”
Community colleges, Neupauer in November told administrators of such institutions located in Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas, do have influence in their own backyards.
“But at BC3,” Neupauer said, “I would respectfully say we take it to the next level.”
Neupauer and Megan Coval, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation and external relations, described the influence BC3 has in its backyard to those administrators during “Leveraging the Community in Community College,” the title of their breakout session at a Strategic Horizon Network virtual colloquium.
“His words always stuck with me, and have impacted my presidency, our college and our strategic plan.”
Their presentation followed the debut of “Continuing on the Path,” BC3’s 2022-2027 strategic plan whose vision statement reads: “As the community’s college, BC3 will create opportunities and change lives for a better future.”
Coval told administrators in the breakout session about objectives in “Continuing on the Path,” which include effectively and efficiently examining the needs of the college’s communities to align with BC3’s goal of being the community’s college.
Objectives also include cultivating new and existing partnerships in support of college initiatives; using the BC3 Education Foundation to increase awareness among community stakeholders to achieve mutual goals; and regular assessment of community engagement and communication, Coval said.
“It involves relationship-building,” Coval said, “and being very strategic about to whom we are reaching out or with whom we are connecting.”
An emphasis on serving communities “presents opportunities for return on investment in a different way,” Neupauer said.
Those opportunities include BC3 launching an opioid addiction recovery program and addressing food insecurity in the past five years, working with the Butler County Growth Collaborative to establish a personal empowerment training program, hosting a township polling station and providing frequent free use of college facilities to Butler County government.
Those opportunities, Neupauer and Coval said, have resulted in strong financial support from the Butler County board of commissioners during a time when enrollment has fallen to 9 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds at two-year colleges nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Enrollment declines have factored in the merger of public four-year institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania and the closing of others elsewhere, Neupauer said.
“While we always emphasize academics,” Neupauer said, “we had to diversify who we are and whom we serve.”
In addition to strong financial support from the Butler County board of commissioners, BC3’s influence in its own backyard has resulted in partnerships that produced financial contributions from other institutions of higher education, operating funds from health care providers, funds from other Pennsylvania counties and grants from the state, and increased gifts to the BC3 Education Foundation.
It was Dr. Roger Selbert, the futurist in economic, societal and demographic fields, who predicted the decentralization of higher education in 2017 to an audience that included Neupauer.
“Community colleges,” Selbert said, “will be at the core of making this local impact.”
“His words always stuck with me,” Neupauer told administrators at the Strategic Horizon Network breakout session, “and have impacted my presidency, our college and our strategic plan.”
Strategic Horizon Network comprises eight member institutions that include BC3 and acknowledges that “The environment in which community colleges operate is changing at an ever-accelerating and increasingly complex rate. Social, technological and political forces are fundamentally altering the educational landscape in ways that are not easily understood.”
Neupauer in 2022 also was a panelist for “Maximizing A Diverse Workforce for Success” at the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania’s “Cable Academy 2022” conference in April in Lancaster.
He met with German Consul General David Gill, as did Butler County officials, in Butler County in August; was named to the steering committee for America250PA-Butler County; and discussed “Strategic Communications in the Time of a Crisis” at the Community Colleges of Appalachia’s fall conference in November in Nelsonville, Ohio.
Presentations wide-ranging
Sharla Anke, Lisa Campbell, Ken Clowes, Karen Jack, Dr. Ryan Kociela, Sherri Mack, Dr. Josh Novak, Dr. Belinda Richardson and Dr. Case Willoughby were among BC3 administrators who also shared their expertise through presentations in 2022.
Anke is assistant dean of institutional research and planning; Campbell is dean of Workforce Development; Clowes is community initiatives center assistant, Workforce Development; Jack is project director of KEYS; Kociela is director of BC3 @ Cranberry; Mack is dean of business; Novak is dean of student development; Richardson is provost and vice president for academic affairs; and Willoughby is vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
Willoughby, Richardson, Novak and Anke in February presented “Crafting a Culture for Student Success” as a webinar to members of the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange. The presentation, based on a paper whose authors included Amy Pignatore, BC3 dean of admissions and college registrar, in 2020 won the exchange’s “Best Practices in Student Retention Award.”
Willoughby in March was a panelist for a session titled, “25+ Years and Still Going Strong: Building a Sustainable Career in Student Affairs” at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education’s convention in Baltimore. Novak and Dr. Natacia Owens, assistant dean of advising and career planning, also attended the convention.
The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators is the largest student affairs organization and provides participants with extraordinary research about students and specifically, resources for student retention and success, student mental health, academic advising and career support. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and enrollment management were also discussed.
Willoughby in March led a book discussion at the Heaton Family Learning Commons on BC3’s main campus about “Sorted,” a memoir chronicling the experiences of a trans man growing up and finding his way. The discussion, attended by students, administrators, faculty and staff, included resources and information about gender identity.
Jack in March hosted a live webinar titled “Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Increase Retention, Graduation and Employment Outcomes by Meeting Their Unique Needs.” The webinar provided resources and tools to assist college professionals in forming successful relationships with autistic students in ways that positively impact their college and career success.
Clowes in March led breakout sessions titled “Shifting Stigma” at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania’s “Courageous Conversations: Substance Use Disorder Conference”; in August titled “Stigma: How Perceptions Help Fuel or End Stigma” at the Butler County Summer Conference at BC3; and in November titled “Continuing the Stigma Conversation” at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania’s “Substance Use Disorder Reconvene.”
Jack in June presented and led a college-student working group discussion at The Institute for Nonprofit Leadership’s “Anti-Poverty Coalition Reconvene: Rethinking Poverty.”
The event at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania included networking with agencies and individuals who address poverty in Butler County, discussing how COVID-19 impacted poverty in Butler County and celebrating best practices.
Willoughby, Campbell, Kociela and Mack in August presented “Finding and Keeping a Talented Staff” to members of the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber of Commerce. The session at BC3 @ Cranberry offered ways to identify and retain talent, and shared resources that BC3 can provide to local businesses and to other organizations.
Clowes in September was keynote speaker at the Mercer County Single County Authority-Behavioral Health Commission’s Recovery Celebration.
Novak, a volunteer with the Butler County Suicide Coalition, in October provided community-based question-persuade-refer suicide prevention training. Novak in 2022 trained staff members at the Community Health Clinic in Butler, Knoch School District and at BC3, and trained a group for bachelor’s- and master’s-degree level social work majors at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. The training focuses on gatekeeper-level suicide prevention strategies.
Willoughby in October discussed “Burnout, Stress and Connection,” which covered the physiological and neurological aspects of stress, effective coping strategies and the importance of human connection, at the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges’ Chief Student Affairs Officers affinity group in a virtual meeting.
He also presented “Tapping into Your Strengths for Leadership” as part of the Pennsylvania Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ Leadership Conference. The session was offered to grow leadership skills for those seeking career advancement using CliftonStrengths assessment.
