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Leave A Legacy

Webinar on-demand

How Great Teaching Drives Student Success and Elevates Your Institution

Don’t miss this discussion with campus leaders to discover the goals, strategies, and tactics that have propelled their student success initiatives and driven transformative results.

Led by Dr. Jim Catanzaro, campus leaders discuss their experiences prioritizing teaching excellence, demonstrating why it is the driving force that can revolutionize a college’s reputation and reverse the public’s declining view of higher education.

After all, it has been proven that great teaching drives remarkable student success outcomes, attracts new learners, increases retention and completion rates, and sets institutions apart by certifying their quality.

What You Will Learn:

  • How higher ed institutions at all levels can become student and learning-centered
  • How active learning, inclusive teaching, and engaging pedagogies build academic reputation, leading to enhanced student recruitment, achievement, and post-completion success
  • The role faculty professional development plays in ensuring teaching excellence

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from other higher ed leaders and learn how championing exceptional teaching drives transformative change and can elevate your institution’s impact.

Meet the Experts

Picture of James L. (Jim) Catanzaro, Ph.D.
James L. (Jim) Catanzaro, Ph.D.

Executive Director, HERDI South

James L. (Jim) Catanzaro, Ph.D.

Dr. Jim Catanzaro is the Executive Director of HERDI South, a leading organization that fosters connections between corporate partners and community college leaders across the Southern United States. HERDI South is committed to facilitating comprehensive evaluations of products and services, enabling community colleges to achieve their strategic goals and enhance their educational impact.

Before assuming his role at HERDI South, Dr. Catanzaro enjoyed a distinguished career as a community college president from 1978 to 2015. He led Chaffey College in California, Lakeland Community College in Ohio, Triton College in Illinois, and Chattanooga State Community College in Tennessee. Under his leadership, each institution saw significant enrollment growth, forged innovative corporate partnerships, and achieved notable improvements in student outcomes.

Dr. Catanzaro's contributions to higher education extend beyond administration. He hosted over 750 television interview programs for PBS affiliates, taught at least one course each semester, authored several books and articles, and served on many local and national boards. His expertise and insights were shared at conferences across the United States and internationally, including the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, and Australia. Notably, his "Religion of the World" course was selected by the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education for inclusion in its Hippocampus offerings.

In addition to his executive role and extensive teaching career, Dr. Catanzaro has been a vocal advocate for integrating artificial intelligence in higher education. His research focuses on leveraging generative AI tools to enhance student recruitment and mental health support, underscoring his commitment to innovative and effective educational practices.

Bio
Picture of Dr. Meera Komarraju
Dr. Meera Komarraju

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for California State University, Northridge

Dr. Meera Komarraju

Dr. Meera Komarraju is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

In this role, Dr. Komarraju is responsible for directing nearly 3,000 faculty and staff members in the Division of Academic Affairs, the largest unit within the university. Dr. Komarraju oversees eight academic colleges; the college of extended learning; university library; academic support units; and six central academic affairs administrative offices.
Dr. Komarraju has more than three decades of experience in higher education. In addition to her work as provost and vice chancellor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, she has been a dean, associate dean, department chair and an undergraduate program director.

She holds a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Osmania University in India and a doctorate in applied social psychology from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. She taught at the undergraduate and graduate level in the Departments of Psychology and Management at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She also has taught in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore for Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Department of Management’s off-campus executive MBA program.

As an applied psychologist, Dr. Komarraju’s research focuses on student motivation and performance, diversity and leadership, as well as on work attitudes and work-family linkages in dual-career couples.

Dr. Komarraju serves as a member of the CSU Academic Council, the President's Cabinet at CSUN, and the CSUN Foundation's Board of Directors. She also chairs the Provost's Council, the Academic Affairs Council, the Teacher Education Council, and the University Planning & Budget Group (UPBG).

Dr. Komarraju feels very fortunate to have the opportunity to serve students, staff and faculty in the Provost role and is always seeking to make a meaningful contribution to the teaching and learning taking place at California State University, Northridge

Bio
Picture of Ava L. Parker
Ava L. Parker

President , Palm Beach State College

Ava L. Parker

For Ava L. Parker, the success of Palm Beach State College’s students and Palm Beach County go hand in hand. Parker has served as president of Palm Beach State College since 2015. She is the first female president in the history of PBSC, which was founded in 1933 as Florida’s first public community college.

Parker’s steadfast and visionary leadership has resulted in PBSC emerging as a top institution for preparing students for STEM careers. Under Parker’s tenure, PBSC opened a fifth campus, improved student success rates, increased enrollment growth; is expanding facilities for allied health and technology professions; was selected as an Amazon Career Choice education partner; and has been designated the future home of the world’s first tech golf sports and entertainment venue co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

As a member of the American Association of Community Colleges’ Board of Directors, Parker, where she served as chair from 2023-2024, Parker is a national thought leader and advocate for community colleges and their role in shaping the high-skilled workforce of the future. She serves on the Board of Directors for MasTec, an American multinational infrastructure engineering and construction company, and Orchid Island Capital, a publicly traded specialty finance company. She is on the Advisory Board of the Community College Research Center; is a member of the Orange Bowl Committee, Achieve Palm Beach County Executive Champions, and the West Palm Beach Federal Courthouse Committee.

Parker has received numerous accolades throughout her career for her role in advancing women and providing access to education to students of all backgrounds. In 2023, she received the Distinguished Member Award from Leadership Florida and the Ed Tancer Community Leader of the Year Award from the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce. Florida Trend magazine named her a top influencer on its Florida 500 list for multiple years (2019 to 2023). Parker was on City and State Florida’s inaugural Women Power 100 list in 2022. She received the South Florida 2022 Ultimate CEO award from the South Florida Business Journal, which also selected Parker as a Power Leader in Education from 2021 to 2023.

PBSC serves more than 36,000 students on site and online at five campuses throughout Palm Beach County. PBSC is ranked among the Top Online Colleges by Newsweek and Statista; is recognized as one of the Top 100 Colleges for Hispanic Students by Hispanic Outlook magazine; and a “Top 10” Military Friendly® School by VIQTORY magazine. In 2017, PBSC was designated top status of GOLD in the Florida College System ranking. With more than 150,000 graduates, PBSC alumni touch every aspect of Palm Beach County and Parker is leading the way, ensuring opportunities that enable growth for the county’s businesses and workforce.

Bio
Picture of John J. "Ski" Sygielski, Ed.D
John J. "Ski" Sygielski, Ed.D

President, HACC

John J. "Ski" Sygielski, Ed.D,

John J. "Ski" Sygielski, Ed.D, became the seventh president of HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, in July 2011.

His previous appointments include president of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, and president of then-Lord Fairfax Community College (now named Laurel Ridge Community College) in Middletown, Virginia. He began his professional career as a teacher in a Chicago inner-city school followed by a stint as a corporate trainer for two Fortune 500 companies.

He transitioned to a community college career at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he began his community college administration and college teaching career.

Currently, Ski is a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, serving as chairman, the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce and Pennsylvania’s Workforce Investment Board and Harrisburg’s Recycle Bicycle, Inc. A member of the Harrisburg Rotary, he is the past chairman of the board for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and served on AACC's 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges.

He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy, two master's degrees in business and a doctorate in education, as well as an honorary associate degree.
Ski, and his husband, Steve Perrault, are residents of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he is an avid bicyclist and the only member of his working-class family to graduate from college.

Bio

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