Presidents’ Retreat Starts our Summer Strong!
While the presidents of each community college meet monthly as one of our leadership groups, this annual retreat offers a special space to see what sparks as they reflect on the year that's passed while ideating for the year ahead.
For some of the presidents, this is the very start – recent retirements have led to new leadership in their first weeks in the role. For others, this is simply the newest chapter, continuing to build upon years of service at their Iowa community college. It's this mix that offers both fresh perspectives and deep understanding to tackle the opportunities and challenges in front of us. Every year offers something different, and we’re grateful to have the most recent additions to our team with us.
We will continue to mark and celebrate each milestone as we meet the needs of today's students while envisioning the future of higher education in our state.
Hosted the Final Session in the Data in Action Series
All spring long, our network jumped into sessions focused on leveraging data in all parts of our campuses and operations. We hosted our very last one (for now!) focused on "Program Review & Curriculum Improvement," led by the Iowa Department of Education’s Heather Meissen and Derreck Calkins. We’re so deeply grateful for all of the experts and leaders who shared their time and insights for practical resources around data collection, use, evaluation, and reporting. If you missed any of these live, or want to revisit them with fresh eyes, have no fear: all recordings and slides are available here!
Summer Trustee Conference: Less than a month away!
With 124 trustees across the state, this is the one time a year we get to gather, focusing on ways we can further bolster our own community college and the Iowa Community College System as a whole. Our 60th anniversary will be a lens to honor the past, highlight the present, and look ahead to the future of student success in Iowa. Our evening will be held to celebrate the exceptional leaders among us with our Trustee Awards.
Announcing our 2026 Trustee Awards Honorees
This year, we are pleased to recognize:
- Randy Pash receiving the John P. Kibbie Award, nominated by Iowa Western Community College
- Mark Collett receiving the Larry Ebbers Honorary Trustee Award, nominated by Hawkeye Community College
- Tricia Sutherland receiving the Trustee Leadership Award, representing Western Iowa Tech Community College with
- Dr. Matt Thompson receiving the Chief Executive Officer Award, representing Indian Hills Community College
- Ritchie Industries receiving the Community Service Award, nominated by Iowa Valley Community College District
Read more about these leaders and our years of service awardees here. We look forward to recognizing them further in the next newsletter, on social media, and of course, at the ceremony!
If you are planning on attending the conference or awards and have not yet registered, you can do so here.
Be Ready to Represent at our 4th Annual Convention & Tradeshow
Community Colleges for Iowa’s Convention & Tradeshow is coming back for our fourth consecutive year, even bigger, better, and brighter in 2026. This year’s theme is “Lighting the Path: Staying Grounded, Sparking Opportunity,” inspired by the ways every person and position at our community colleges illuminates our state. Here’s to the ‘lightbulb moments’ that make us excited to wake up each morning and dive into our vocation!
- Check out this blog overviewing what’s special about this year and how your campus can make the most of it
- Speaker RFPs are now open and calling for you and your colleagues to present a breakout or workshop
- Early bird registration is coming soon!
Annual Events Changing in 2027
We’re excited to announce strategic changes to our annual events to start in 2027: 1) the trustee conference, previously held on its own in the summer, will join the convention and tradeshow in the fall, and 2) launching trustee campus visits for colleges to rotate hosting and showcasing its programming with one-day gatherings.
These changes will maintain current professional development opportunities, increase engagement between college leadership, maximize participation and efficiency by aligning major statewide gatherings, and continue opportunities for trustees to visit colleges for focused tours.
Mark your calendar now for November 10-12, 2027 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The first campus visits will begin in the summer of 2027, more information to come as planning progresses.
New Year-Round Sponsor: Ellucian
Great news: Ellucian is Community Colleges for Iowa’s newest year-round partner! Since you’ll be seeing more of Ellucian, we wanted to give you a quick introduction.
With decades of experience focused exclusively on higher education, Ellucian understands the unique challenges institutions face. Their AI-powered platform drives operational efficiency and strengthens engagement for students, faculty, and staff, with solutions that span the entire student lifecycle.
Contact Patrick Bevilacqua for more details! for more details!
Sharing Student Success
So often do our conversations focus on student success and the stories of students and graduates. People wonder: How are students deciding what area of study they want, which colleges they want to attend, or why go to college at all? As community colleges, we know just how nuanced each student’s journey is. It’s been our pleasure to share a wide range of student experiences, aspirations, and achievements on social media, and now, in our newsletter: a reminder of why we do the work we do.
Meet Hannah: Balancing all it takes to start the career she wants in healthcare.
Take a moment to imagine the rigors of organic chemistry with hands-on work of being a CNA, where becoming a health care provider means knowing the science while having the compassion for patient care. Hannah uses this passion as motivation for organizing peer study groups and setting herself up to be successful in medicine after graduation.
Hannah was recognized for her educational achievements as well as her leadership and work ethic when named to the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society’s 2026 All-Iowa Academic Team. Thanks for all your hard work, Hannah!