ROBIN GARRETT, Ph.D.  

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

From Adult Basic Education through the university level, the goal of higher education is to prepare people for the workforce and provide educational personal enrichment opportunities.  It is our responsibility to assist students with making the best choices to meet their goals.   This may be for transfer to a university, immediate employment, or skill development.

The mission of a Community College is to provide relevant training to students and businesses. Whether in the format of non-credit fast-track certificates, stackable credit certificates, associate degrees, or professional development, the community college must respond to the needs of employers to provide a skilled workforce, which will promote continued economic development in the area.

Our responsibility, as community college leaders, is to provide excellent and affordable coursework to students at all levels of experience. We must ensure our curriculum and programs align with transfer institutions and/or high-wage, high-demand job requirements to make us the first choice provider for students and employers. We need to promote business involvement in advisory councils to assist with true outcome alignment, internship and job opportunities, instruction, and resources.

Inclusive strategic planning is vital to the success of the institution.  Each area of the college must participate to ensure the mission and vision of the comprehensive community college remains the focus within the goals and plan for each department.

Our advisors are instrumental in my philosophy.  They have a major responsibility to understand the core, all certificates, all degrees, job related information, and transfer guidelines of the major universities our students attend.  In order to minimize excess credit hours, our advisors need to be proactive and diligent in their contacts with students.

Program and course learning outcome consistency and documented assessment are important to student success.  We want our students to graduate or complete our certificates with outcomes that are aligned with the needs of the industry or university of choice.  The faculty are vital to the success of this alignment.  This helps to demonstrate the wonderful work faculty do each semester contributing to the overall goal of our students.

I believe this philosophy focuses on the people that are closest to the students.  Administration is important to keep the ship moving and provide for the needs of the students and faculty, but those that are in direct contact with the students on a daily basis, the faculty and the advisors, have the greatest impact on the success of the ship.  At the end of the day, it is each student that matters the most and that is what needs to be taken into consideration with each decision made.