Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to Triton College, and why would those contributions be valuable in the role of Trustee member?

I am motivated for the office of Triton Trustee to create doors of opportunity that will ensure the learning landscape is equitable for all students, regardless of economic status, race and ethnicity. In addition, to providing insight on exposing students to career opportunities and developing skills needed to be empowered upon graduation to transition into any university, work environment, or pursue entrepreneurship. 

Given the current pandemic, we need to ensure fiscal accountability, transparency and support to the entire Triton Community at large. 

I am a Certified Public Accountant with a vast financial background which can be shared with the Triton community to produce students that meet and exceeds the needs of employers. I have governance and leadership experience after serving eight years on the Westchester School District 92 ½ Board holding the positions of Board President, Secretary and Financial Committee Chairman. I understand the need for collaboration to make conscience decisions. I was instrumental in the architectural design, development and implementation of several capital projects for safety and protection of students. These attributes are key for good governance to ensure accountability and transparency to our Triton community. 

2. What are the three biggest challenges or opportunities you expect Triton to face in the coming years, and how would you work with your colleagues to address these challenges or realize these opportunities?

The education system has been impacted immensely by the pandemic creating an education and financial burden on Triton community-at-large which includes students, families, teachers, and businesses. Together we have to maximize Triton’s finances and determine where there can be economies of scale resulting in potential budget reallocations without impacting the learning. Thus, we will need to determine where can we streamline operations and services where feasible. 

The overall 2021 Community College Federal Legislative Priorities are the Pandemic, Creation of Job Training Programs, the End to the Taxation of Pell Grants, and Strengthening of Under-Resourced Institutions and Underserved Students. These priorities will impact the Triton Community and we as a team will need to establish the mechanism and means to implement them where feasible. 

Even though there has been eLearning, students have missed the engagement in which we need to ensure that students are receiving the support they need mentally, emotionally, and of course financially to remain focused on their objectives. We need to engage a student-connect mechanism where the Triton staff reaches out to support the whole student, instead of waiting on the student. 

3. How will you balance competing interests, such as your own values and opinions, input from staff and fellow trustees, and diverse views from the community? How would you describe your leadership style and your decision-making process generally? 

I am a servant-leader and transformational leader making sure others are supported and have the resources needed to be successful. As a transformational leader I create a vision and promote empowerment for completion of the vision, resulting in positive change and activeness among all stakeholders. 

I believe that conscience decisions are made by obtaining and understanding the data and engaging in collaborative dialogue. So, with data, I am a well-informed conscience decision maker.

4. What values would you bring to the budgeting process? What changes do you favor in the process by which Triton conducts its budgeting and fiscal planning?

As Finance Committee leader for Westchester School District 92 ½ we operated on a zero-based budget method with the support of internal leadership. This method worked as it required projecting the budget on “true past purchases” and documented projected needs based on planned projects and/or programs”. This required the participation of department leaders resulting in accountability by all. I have carried forward this method in my current assignment which causes department leaders to be engaged and accountable in the development, monitoring, and managing of their budgets. 

5. Community colleges have historically been “all things to all people,” from preparing students to matriculate, to university-level education, to business-related continuing education, to community support. What is your vision for the future of Triton? How will you promote substantive discussion, build consensus among trustees, and rally public support for your vision?

Community Colleges have captured the basics which is the 3 As: Accessibility, Availability, and Affordability. We must now extend deeper and transform the 3 E’s which is Equity, Exposure, and Empowerment to share holistically with the Triton Community at large. Equity is ensuring truly “No Student Left Behind” by reaching the underserved and providing them with needed support to ensure successful completion of Triton to fulfill their course requirements but career needs. We need to build Triton’s community exposure by reaching the K-8 grade levels by hosting student programs, participating in school hosted career days and more. Together we can ensure students are empowered while attending and graduating from Triton to begin their careers or pursue entrepreneurship ambitions. 

For support of this vision, I think of the Board as a Team, in which together we are successful and not individually and understanding we are in competition with other community colleges and not ourselves. Thus, with a level field, we will be able to work together to establish priorities and pursue them in agreement. 

6. How will you balance the community's desire to decrease the property tax burden with the need to maintain the quality of Triton’s educational offerings, create an equitable learning environment for all students, and address facilities issues?

Budget issues within any organization are front and center to governance discussions. While there is a continuing desire to lessen the public’s tax burden, we must continue to find ways to illuminate that value that Triton College adds to the community. Despite the budget that the college is allotted, we must work together to maximize the resources provided and ensure that decisions are made that align with the core values that we agree upon. 

7. What concerns you most about the state of educational opportunities in the wider community? Is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve?

Connecting with underserved students concerns me. Our family has been blessed with the opportunity to provide higher education to both of our children. Unfortunately, gaps still continue to exist in the rate of educating people of color. I hope to serve the broader community in partnership with discovering meaningful ways of shrinking the gap of opportunity, as we all can agree that education is the gateway to self-determination and self-sufficiency. 

8. How do you define equity? Have recent discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking? 

Equity is ensuring “No Student is Left Behind” by reaching the underserved and providing them with needed financial and career support to ensure successful completion of Triton to fulfill their career aspirations. It is “leveling the playing field”. I live within Proviso Township which is inclusive of the under-served so I understand the needs of the families. Some students will be first generation college attendees which will make a great impact on their economic status and impact future generations. 

9. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing Triton in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

The best method to obtain feedback on Triton’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats is to engage with all stakeholders through focus groups and surveys. With the digital platform establishing online focus and chat groups should be simple given our current pandemic challenges. We would implement a community wide-survey inclusive of students, teachers, supporting faculty, parents, high school superintendents, and business owners to obtain feedback on Triton as a whole. This data would be utilized by the President to capitalize on Triton’s strengths, minimize weaknesses, solidify opportunities, and eliminate any threats. 

10. How should Triton assess its policies and progress with respect to the opportunity gap? As a Trustee, what metrics will you use to determine whether Triton is succeeding?

Triton should review and assess all policies related to student learning and engagement to determine its alignment with the needs of the community and the focus of the Association of Community Colleges. 

11. What lessons learned from the implementation of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic do you believe will be applicable going forward, even after the pandemic abates?

I think we all can agree that remote learning has always had pros and cons. Remote learning is most likely here to stay, post-pandemic. Therefore, we must endeavor to dedicate our resources towards understanding both the traditional and non-traditional students that make Triton their college of choice. We need to seek partnerships with the local high schools and businesses in order to prepare our students with the necessary skills, resources, and tools to compete in the new environment. 

12. In the context of continued reduced state financial support and broader economic uncertainty, what are your thoughts on how Triton must manage through a difficult economic and fiscal situation?

I believe that now is the best time to re-assess and examine existing ways of utilizing financial resources as never before. The word “restructuring” is not very engaging to anyone, as most consider the process as a threat. However, it is more favorable to develop opportunities internally and in advance, instead of being forced by external situations that may not be controllable. 

13. Educational and business leaders have begun to use a "cradle-to-career" framework when talking about education. Please discuss the role of Triton within the “cradle-to-career“ framework.

Cradle-to-career frameworks are discussed often, as they should be when discussing the relevance of Triton in terms of educating our youth for employment, entrepreneurship opportunities, or matriculating to universities to continue their education. We must be very careful, however, to remain flexible in terms of the definitions. Doors of opportunities open and close over time. However, skills such as oral and written communication, the art of negotiating, usage of technology and more must continue to be stressed and developed for the long-term application of each student that we serve.