News Releases @ TCC

TCC DEAN NAMED ACE FELLOW
Prestigious award went to 40 collegians around the nation

NORFOLK, Va. (March 15, 2005) – The American Council on Education (ACE) has announced that Valarie Evans, dean of student services at Tidewater Community College’s Norfolk Campus, has been named an ACE Fellow for academic year 2005-06. Evans is the first ACE Fellow from TCC.

As part of the rewarding of this Fellowship, TCC is also one of only six recipients of an ACE/Lumina Foundation grant for community college participation in the ACE Fellows Program.

The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, strengthens institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for responsible positions in college administration. This year, 40 Fellows, nominated by their presidents or chancellors, were selected in the national competition.

Evans, a Portsmouth resident and 25-year TCC employee, has taken on numerous leadership opportunities at the college through progressive positions and outreach efforts. Her exemplary efforts include counseling first-year, at-risk students; heading up and advancing a TCC tutoring center; directing Dialogues on Race; securing a Bridges to the Future grant in partnership with Norfolk State University to transition students to NSU; and serving as chief campus administrator at the Norfolk Campus, 2001-02.

“My fervent interest lies in helping develop more ways for students to succeed, to persist through college and meet their personal and professional goals,” says Evans, who holds a doctorate of arts in educational leadership/community college education from George Mason University.

Marlene Ross, director of the ACE Fellows Program, notes that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,450 participants in the first 40 years of the program, more than 250 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,000 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans. “We’re extremely pleased with the incoming class,” Ross says. “The individuals selected have demonstrated strong leadership ability. The Fellows Program will sharpen and enhance their leadership skills and prepare them to address issues of concern to the higher education community.”

Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the nominating institution while spending the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution. During the program, Fellows will attend three week-long seminars on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively in the field, and engage in other activities to enhance their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today and throughout this century.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the nation’s largest higher education association, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

For more information about the ACE Fellows Program, visit www.acenet.edu/programs/fellows.