How Will Higher Education & the
Purpose of Community Colleges
Change in the Next Decade?

Alliance Annual Meeting Postponed to October 2022

As the chair and vice chair of the Alliance, and the director of Academic Leadership Initiatives at WICHE, we would like to provide you with an update regarding the 2022 Alliance Annual Meeting. The Executive Committee met and discussed the current COVID Omicron situation. Several of our member institutions are under travel restrictions and, at this time, would not be allowed to attend the meeting.

Due to these issues, the Executive Committee has reluctantly decided to postpone the annual meeting to October 26-28, 2022. We hope the variant will be at a more acceptable level and more members will be able to attend. The location will remain the same at the Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel in Broomfield, CO.

The good news is that the Executive Committee has voted to spend up to $20,000 on travel stipends to enable Alliance members and speakers to attend the meeting who otherwise might not have been able to do so due to budget cuts at your institution/system.

WICHE will share updates as more details arise.

We appreciate your understanding. Please contact WICHE staff if you have any questions or concerns regarding:

• Registration and travel stipends —Jenn Raby, Project Coordinator (jraby@wiche.edu)
• Sponsor or speaker engagements—Kay Hulstrom, Associate Director (khulstrom@wiche.edu)
• All other issues–Sarah Leibrandt, Director (sleibrandt@wiche.edu)

Best Regards,

Landon Pirius
Colorado Community College System
Alliance 2021 Chair

Carli Schiffner
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Alliance 2021 Vice Chair

Sarah Leibrandt
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Director, Academic Leadership Initiatives

Message from the Chair

WELCOME TO COLORFUL COLORADO! On behalf of your executive committee and the good folks of the vital WICHE staff, we look forward to seeing you at our annual meeting October 26-28, 2022 in Broomfield, CO. We have developed a program that we know will be engaging and energizing, while providing you the time to network with like-minded colleagues from community colleges across the western United States. The theme, How Will Higher Education and the Purpose of Community Colleges Change in the Next Decade?, this year is particularly relevant to the challenges on our campuses. The pandemic has forced us all to examine our practices, programs, support services, policies, and structures with an eye to the future. We all need to rethink who we serve, how we serve them, and the vital role we play in supporting our respective communities. The focus of this year’s conference, developed with input from the membership, is to do just that. Redefining and refining our role must be a collaborative effort with our key constituents – students, community partners, workforce partners, and college employees. We are truly excited not only for the compelling conference sessions, but also to engage with you all in person.

I look forward to joining with you here in Colorado in October!

Who Should Attend

In attendance you will find colleagues from the WICHE region eager to share the lessons they’ve learned from tackling a host of institutional and academic challenges, including some of the ones you may currently be facing.

• Provosts, vice presidents, and directors of academic affairs at community colleges and technical schools
• Chief executive officers and chief academic officers of related systems and statewide agencies
• Institutional staff with expertise in the program topic areas, accompanying those above at their invitation

About the Alliance

The members of the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders (Alliance) are the chief academic officers of community colleges and technical schools along with their associated system and state agencies in the 15 Western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States which make up the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) region. Through the Alliance, these top academic leaders share perspectives on current issues, work together on regional projects that are beyond the scope of a single institution or state, and contribute resources and expertise to build a stronger future for higher education in the West. The Alliance was founded in 2010 with support from the Western Academic Leadership Forum which is also based at WICHE.