Three New Deans Join Community College of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 2, 2008 –Community College of Philadelphia announces the appointment of three new deans to head key departments, as the College, with an enrollment of 34,000 students, enters a period of restructuring and growth.

"This is an exciting time for the College, and these are experienced administrators who can help us better meet the educational needs of our students,” said Stephen M. Curtis, president of Community College of Philadelphia.

The new deans are:

Yvonne Chang, Ph.D.,the New dean of the Division of Adult and Community Education, formerly was at Mercer County Community College, where she was director of The Center for Continuing Studies.

Born in Taiwan, Chang earned her undergraduate degree in Mass Communications at Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan. She came to the United States to attend the University of Hawaii, where she earned a Master’s degree in Communications. Chang subsequently earned a Doctorate in International and Development Education, Administration and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh.

Although she has lived in at least six states since arriving in America, Chang regards Pennsylvania as her home because she met and married her husband and gave birth to her two daughters while in Pittsburgh.

Chang said she is looking forward to the challenge of creating an array of affordable continuing education and lifelong learning programs. “This is really my dream job,” Chang said.

Prior to Mercer County Community College, Chang served as Continuing Education program manager at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Orangeburg, S.C.; program director for Continuing Education, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck-Hackensack, N.J.; and senior coordinator for Continuing Education and Outreach for the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Lisa Wilson Cooper, the new dean of the Division of Educational Support Services, comes from the University of the Pacific-Stockton in California, where she was interim assistant to the provost and director of the Educational Resource Center.

Cooper is a Philadelphia native and graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls. She received a bachelor’s degree in History and International Relations from Goucher College in Towson, Md.; a Master of Arts degree in Psychological Services at Marymount University, Arlington, Va.; a Master of Science in Counseling and Human Relations from Villanova University, Villanova, Pa.; and currently she is a doctoral candidate at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Cooper held a variety of positions during her six years at the University of the Pacific-Stockton. Previously, she served as an assistant professor at Northern Virginia Community College, Woodbridge Va., and as an assistant director/senior counselor in Student Support Services at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Cooper said the new job at the College is a homecoming of sorts. “I still have family and good friends here,” Cooper said of the city. Professionally, Cooper said she was impressed by the College’s commitment both to providing affordable access to higher education for city residents and to Achieving the Dream, a multiyear national initiative to help more community college students succeed, particularly student groups that traditionally have faced significant barriers to success, including students of color and low-income students.

Ronald C. Jackson, the new dean of Students,was formerly the dean of Students at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. Originally from Southfield, Mich., Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He also received a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Jackson said his first year in Philadelphia will be spent "largely listening and learning."
"The biggest challenge of a new institution is to learn the student demographic and the dynamics," Jackson said. "I think the major pitfall is to bring what you've done at your previous institution and to try and make it fit."

Before joining Marymount Manhattan College, Jackson worked in the Office of Residence Life at William Patterson University of New Jersey and in the Office of Student Development and Activities at Columbia University, New York City.