1 Year Ago Today with California Community College Chancellor Eloy Oakley

Today on ‘Weekly Wisdom’ Bridget Burns from University Innovation Alliance and Doug Lederman from Inside Higher Ed sit down with California Community College Chancellor, Eloy Oakley. Many educational leaders had to step up during 2020 because of the pandemic and all that it brought with it, and Chancellor Oakley is no different. He discusses the struggles of leading through not only a pandemic but an economic crisis, racial reckoning, and a crisis in democracy.

Chancellor Oakley says resilience is vital in the evolution of leadership. As a leader that prefers running toward the problem and dealing with it face-to-face, Chancellor Oakley had to rely on his military experience to help him to keep moving forward. The most significant opportunity was making sure students didn’t get left behind in this constant sprint with an ever-moving finish line.

The Chancellor also discusses the enrollment decline they’re seeing because of this pandemic, especially among disadvantaged students. Prior to 2020, there was significant momentum that is now slowing or reversing. Food and housing insecurity are at the top of many student’s lists of concerns. Chancellor Oakley is proud of Governor Newson's work in securing emergency aid for the 2021-2022 budget, and hopes even more support will come from the Biden administration.

Incidentally, there have been talks of Chancellor Oakley becoming the Secretary of Education under a Biden administration. The Chancellor shares that if he were to be placed in this position, his priority would be a student's basic needs. He wants to better serve adult students that have lost their jobs and say that community colleges are potentially the best place to reach these individuals.

Beyond emergency aid, Chancellor Oakley would like to see major policy initiatives in the arena of democratizing college access, as we are in a time when a high school diploma is no longer enough to be successful in this economy. We need to see colleges move away from being selective to being inclusive. Secondly, Chancellor Oakley says student debt needs to be addressed as we have an entire generation of students being crushed by it.

Chancellor Oakley touches on the California College Promise, which aims to help underprivileged students, and his hopes for all states to do something similar.  To connect with Chancellor Oakley, find him on Twitter or email him at eoakley@cccc.edu.

Welcome to innovating together, a podcast produced by the University Innovation Alliance. This is a podcast for busy people in higher education who are looking for the “aha moments” that can propel their work forward. Innovating Together curates the best insights, research, and experts. To connect with us further, visitwww.theuia.org.