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New CLC leader determined to boost student success

College of Lake County's new president begins today with a pledge to work to ensure equity in student access and successful education outcomes.

"We have to make sure they're crossing the stage at graduation, too," Lori Suddick said.

CLC can help improve the county's economic vitality by making sure everyone is getting the education they need to engage in the workforce, she added.

After spending her entire 18-year academic career at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Suddick was named CLC's next top official by the college board in December.

She said she must first assess what is being done at CLC and the Lake County community to improve student success.

"I don't want to come in and assume things are already happening or aren't already happening" Suddick said. "I want to understand the lay of the land."

That task began in earnest in April when her job at Northeast Wisconsin Technical ended and Suddick was free to meet with Lake County community groups. Accompanying Suddick to those meetings was interim President Richard Haney.

"It was a great opportunity to leverage the great relationships that Haney has built," Suddick said.

CLC Board Chairman Richard Anderson said the board is excited for Suddick to begin.

"The whole board was on board when we selected her," said Anderson, who has been a CLC trustee since 1974. "We're looking forward to her bringing in new ideas."

Anderson said he also hopes Suddick's connections with The Aspen Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based educational and policy studies organization, will help CLC as well.

In 2016, Suddick was part of the Aspen Institute's Presidential Fellowship, a highly selective yearlong program to prepare 40 academic leaders for community college presidencies.

One of the board's goals is for CLC to compete for The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, a $1 million award given every two years by the Aspen Institute. Anderson said believes Suddick will help make CLC a candidate.

Today also marks the end of Haney's tenure with CLC. Last week, the board thanked him for his 19 years of service, during which he was dean of business and industry services, vice president for educational affairs and provost.

Richard Haney, former College of Lake County interim President
Richard Anderson, College of Lake County Board Chairman
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