Austin Community College District’s (ACC) Instructional Leadership Team is now complete. The existing leadership structure, in place since 2017, has grown from five to seven members.
“The College expects an instructional leadership team that is focused, collaborative, collegial, intentional, and committed to our mission and our North Star,” says ACC Vice Chancellor of Instruction Dr. Gaye Lynn Scott, who leads the team. “As this team works to develop its goals, objectives, and measures for the coming years, the North Star and the Theory of Change will be our guiding context.”
She added that the demands on instructional leaders have significantly shifted post-COVID. “The instructional leadership structure must adapt to changing demands and expectations for excellence in all instructional programs and support services, credit and non-credit, workforce and transfer, distance and face-to-face.”
The existing team consisted of Dr. Erasmus Addae, AVC of Distance & Alternative Learning, and Dr. Susan Warner-Sanchez, AVC of Instructional Support Services.
In addition to filling vacancies for interim Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) positions in College & High School Relations, Academic Programs, and Workforce Education, two new leadership positions were added. Those two new positions, created by repurposing existing vacancies, are the Managing Director of Instructional Operations and the AVC of Health Sciences.
New members of the team include:
- Dr. Elizabeth Knight, who started as the AVC of Academic Programs in November 2023;
- Mison Zuniga, who assumed the permanent position of AVC of College & High School Relations in the spring;
- Dr. Brandon Whatley, who started in June as the AVC of Workforce Education;
- David Borden, who recently started as the new Managing Director of Instructional Operations; and
- Dr. Nina Almasy, who accepted the AVC of Health Sciences position and will start in that new role in mid-August.
“Collectively, they will lead the work of instruction with a heart for students and a passion for our mission. I’m so pleased to lead and support this group and I know we will do great things together,” says Dr. Scott.
About the New Instructional Operations and Initiatives Managing Director Position
Instruction is a large unit of the College, with faculty, professional-technical, classified, and administrative staff. The Fall 2023 Fact Book shows that ACC had 688 full-time faculty members and 1,098 adjunct faculty members. The College also has hundreds of hourly faculty in Continuing Education and Adult Education, along with coordinators, managers, directors, administrative assistants, lab techs, and instructional deans.
The resulting operational demands in such a large division need focused attention and support in such areas as data engagement, budgetary oversight, communications, and compliance. The Managing Director role will help lead the operational responsibilities so that the Vice Chancellor of Instruction can focus on strategic vision and leadership and provide support for innovation and cross-silo initiatives.
About the New AVC of Health Sciences Position
ACC’s Health Sciences programs are multifaceted and complex, each with separate accreditation expectations and all facing constant challenges for clinical placements for all students. The College created the position of AVC for Health Sciences to provide a leader who can develop and implement a strategic vision that reflects a laser focus on external partnerships to support and grow its health sciences offerings and meet the needs for highly-skilled healthcare workers in our six-county service area.
Next Steps
Under the Vice Chancellor of Instruction, the team has started engaging in an exercise to develop its communal “Why” that will guide its leadership work in Instruction. The team will then develop its “How,” which will describe the actions it will take to bring the “Why” to life. Connected to the “How” is the “What,” the concrete manifestation of the “Why.”
Members will use this exercise to develop a brief statement that reflects the leadership team and its work and serves as its driving force. The exercise will be repeated within each division of the leadership team, and collectively help the team set goals and objectives and stay focused on what matters most: helping our students achieve their goals.