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Click here for answers to 21 questions we asked Dr. Atwater.
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| Ken Atwater, President |
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Dr. Ken Atwater
Dr. Ken Atwater became Hillsborough Community College's seventh president on July 1, 2010. As the chief academic and executive officer of HCC, Dr. Atwater oversees an institution with five campuses: Brandon, Dale Mabry, Plant City, SouthShore, and Ybor City. HCC serves more than 45,000 credit and non-credit students annually, employs more than 2,400 full and part-time employees and is supported by an annual budget (’09-’10) of over $200 million.
Prior to coming to HCC, Dr. Atwater served as the President of South Mountain Community College, a position he was appointed to in 2001. For the five years prior to becoming President he was Vice President for Student Services at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, Vice President and Dean of Students at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, Vice President for Student Development Services at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina; and Dean of Students at Catonsville Community College in Catonsville, Maryland.
At Jackson State Community College, in his native state of Tennessee, Dr. Atwater was Director of Counseling Services and Director of Student Activities.
Dr. Atwater earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education (with a focus on community colleges) from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1989. He earned a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1978 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Theater, and also Sociology, in 1977, all from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.
The President is a graduate of the prestigious Executive Leadership Institute of the League for Innovation in the Community College; and also is a graduate of the Institute for Leadership Effectiveness, University of Tennessee – Knoxville.
Dr. Atwater served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) July 2004 – June 2007. He served on the 2005-06 Executive Committee of the AACC Board, and is currently serving on the AACC Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. He has also served on the American Association of Community College Commission on Research, and has been Vice Chair of the Board of the National Institute for Student Success.
He has served on the Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since August 2001, the Valley of the Sun YMCA Board of Directors since July 2002, the Institute for Community College Development (Cornell University) Board of Directors since August 2006, the College Board’s Community College Advisory Panel since October 2007, and the Council of North Central Two-Year Colleges Executive Board since Fall 2008.
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