Karen Ball

Gogebic Community College will have staff participating in the 2024-25 Michigan Community College Association Leadership Academy, as Karen Ball, Interim Dean of Occupational Programs/Registrar joins 37 other community college professionals from across the state to embark on a nine-month learning journey. The MCCA program, in its eighth year, is aimed at strengthening the pipeline of leaders within community colleges.

GCC President, Chris Patritto said, “This is a great opportunity for GCC to develop its faculty and staff. We want to set our leaders up for success and the MCCA Leadership Academy will ensure they have the skills to help our students succeed now and into the future. We are excited for Karen to have this wonderful opportunity.” The MCCA Leadership Academy is a hands-on, Michigan-specific professional development program for emerging leaders in the community college sector. Participants are nominated by their community college President or Chancellor. The academic year curriculum focuses on roles in leadership, student goals, student experience, leadership traits, institutional change, and external partnerships.

This year’s cohort includes 37 fellows from 22 community colleges. The project is made possible by generous grant funding from the Ascendum Education Group, the ECMC Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation. Michigan is joining New York and Texas as only one of three states to offer this specific professional development program.