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Western Allianced of Community College Academic Leaders logoWestern Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders

 

Register for the 2023 Alliance Annual Meeting!

October 4-6, 2023

Hotel Murano

Tacoma, WA

Trailblazing a New Pathway: Challenging Assumptions about Community College

Register Here

Sharing ideas, best practices, and fresh perspectives

The Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders (Alliance) is a membership organization that serves as an incubator for collaborating and problem-solving among chief academic officers (or equivalent) at WICHE-region community colleges and technical schools, related systems, and state coordinating and governing boards. 

How should community colleges retool in a fast-evolving economy? What strategies work for increasing student access and completion? How can colleges foster a seamless interrelationship between their programs and workforce opportunities? 

These are just a few of countless issues of distinct concern to chief academic leaders, but common to peer two-year institutions across the Western United States. Together, this network’s participants seek solutions to these and other issues beyond the scope of a single institution, system, or state on behalf of Alliance-member institutions. 

Alliance activities include:

  • Initiatives that address issues affecting higher education in critical niches, such as Interstate Passport
  • The Academic Leaders Toolkit, a peer-reviewed repository for programs, initiatives, and best practices
  • An annual face-to-face meeting, a primary Western U.S. convening ground for senior academic leaders in this niche
  • Regular dialogue and problem-solving on innovations and best practices through Listservs and other means
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The WICHE Alliance brings together academic leaders from across the western United States. This collaboration fosters growth in leadership across the community and technical colleges, encourages space for innovation, and provides professional development opportunities . This has been especially helpful over the past two years for academic leaders as we all try to find our way forward from the impact of the global pandemic.

— CARLI SCHIFFNER

WASHINGTON STATE BOARD FOR COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES
CHAIR, THE ALLIANCE