TRUSTEES MEET NEW STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADER

The members of the Board of Trustees of Iowa Lakes Community College had the opportunity to hear from the new leader of community colleges in Iowa at their meeting Tuesday afternoon on the Emmetsburg Campus.

M.J. Dolan was named this spring as the Executive Director of the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees. One of her goals is to visit each community college in the state. Iowa Lakes was her 13th college to visit.

"I came to (this job) because I love Iowa," Dolan said.

"One of my goals is to create the work force of the 21st century because (community colleges) are the ones who can turn on a dime," Dolan said. "I also think the community colleges can bring families to Iowa through work force training" which, she says, will also generate more students in K-12 schools.

Dolan has held positions of extensive responsibility with the Iowa Department of Management and more recently the Iowa Association of School Boards for which she served as Associate Executive Director. A native of Strawberry Point, she received her Juris Doctorate with honors from the University of Iowa, College of Law.

The mission of the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees (IACCT) is to provide leadership in developing, strengthening and coordinating efforts to promote educational interests in Iowa and to provide a forum for addressing issues affecting access, excellence and effectiveness of Iowa's public Community Colleges.

In other business, the Trustees approved the sale of training certificates on behalf of six area companies and renewed an Emmetsburg Campus Childcare Center agreement with Upper Des Moines Opportunity for the Head Start program.

The meeting also included reports from the Trustees on boards and councils on which they serve.

The next meeting of the Iowa Lakes Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, Aug. 21 on the Estherville Campus.