Telegram: What made you apply for the presidency position?
Brown: I saw an announcement in the Chronicle of Higher Education, so I decided to do some research on the college and looked at some information regarding its staff, board of trustees and funding. After looking at the information, I was immediately drawn to the city. I became very impressed. I talked to other people in the state who had knowledge of the college, and they told me positive things, without saying anything negative.
Telegram: Why do you feel as though you’re the best candidate for the job?
Brown: I think with my 33 years in higher education, and the diversity of the jobs I’ve held, I have an excellent understanding of what it takes to become the president of a community college. I think I have the knowledge, and have acquired the skills, to ensure that the college would not only maintain itself, but would excel. I would work side by side with the faculty, staff and the community.
Telegram: In the scheme of higher education, what role do you believe community colleges play?
Brown: I believe that a community college is an absolute essential in every community. It is the pathway for so many students who don’t think that college is a possibility in their future. I know that in El Paso, when we opened up, most of the students who came to us would have probably never went to another college or university. They weren’t seeing themselves as university students. But once they came to our college, and they had a good experience, and were successful, the transition in their thinking became different. Community colleges often open doors up to people who don’t think they can compete in the secondary education setting.
Telegram: What are your feelings on the expansion that seems to be taking place at community colleges across the state?
Brown: I think it’s more important to the community than to the colleges. You can serve more students through expansion. If you aren’t able to accommodate students who may participate, they will either go somewhere else for their education, or won’t bother with continued learning. The future of this community, state and country, are going to depend on the fact that people are educated. Education is absolutely critical to having a good productive life.
I think that it’s the responsibility of the college to meet the demands of their community members. Sometimes you’re going to have to expand your campus, and sometimes you can come up with other ways to meet demands. Three years ago, El Paso Community College was the fastest growing college in the country for schools that have enrollments of 10,000 students or greater, so we were constantly coping with ensuring how we could get our students the courses they needed. So, we started adapting to technology. We did online course, we did video conferencing, we did everything we could do to make things more accessible to our students.
Telegram: What types of political lobbying experience do you have?
Brown: I have worked closely with our legislative delegation in El Paso, and we have been successful in securing several of our goals. I have also worked closely with our state representative when we, as a college, have felt like there were issues that needed to be addressed.
Telegram: How do community colleges help fulfill the needs of that community’s workforce?
Brown: The important thing is that people can get training in their own backyard. You can’t offer everything, but you offer the programs that have the greatest demand in the local workforce. By finding out what the job demands are, and building programs to meet those demands, people will stay in the community.
Telegram: What types of experiences do you have in dealing with athletic programs?
Brown: Most of my experiences are in dealing with student athletes academically. My work has been related to supporting athletes and making sure they are successful in their programs, because if they’re not successful, they’re not going to be playing.
Telegram: What’s the first thing you would do if you were to become the president?
Brown: I would stop whatever I was doing and start listening to everyone. I would want to hear what everyone had to say, and issues they may have. I would want to know as much as I could, as quickly as I could.
Telegram: Do you think that community colleges are important tools for helping out local school districts and their students?
Brown: I think that programs, like the program here (the Texas Bioscience Institute program), make a profound difference in the lives of so many high school students. Can you imagine graduating with your associate’s degree and being a junior in college before you received your high school diploma? To me, getting students interested in college when they’re younger ensures that they are going to see secondary education as a valuable resource as they get older.
Telegram: What would you do to help secure external funding for the college?
Brown: I think that it’s important to start allowing students to perform research experiments, which are open to external funding and grants, which would allow us to build resources. (In Temple) there are great opportunities to do that through the medical community, which is the backbone of the community.
