Darden College Doctoral Program Names TCC as Strategic Partner of the Year
Old Dominion University's doctoral program in community college leadership (CCL) honored Tidewater Community College and TCC president Deborah DiCroce during its annual advisory committee meeting on June 11.
TCC was named as the program's Strategic Partner of the Year for its "countless contributions, including service on the advisory committee and doctoral dissertation committees, hosting interns from the program, helping identify competitive applicants for the program, giving guest lectures, and working with our students who conduct research for dissertations and other projects," according to Ted Raspiller, director of the CCL program, which is housed in the Darden College of Education.
Along with the annual honor, the ODU Scholarship Committee, through the Office of Admissions, awards a Merit Transfer Scholarship to a student transferring from a Virginia community college to ODU. The award is given in the name of the individual representing ODU's strategic partner. This year, the scholarship was named for DiCroce (pictured) and awarded to Janet Cross, a transfer student from TCC.
DiCroce, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English from ODU, has served as TCC president since 1998.
Attending the program on Friday were administrators from TCC and ODU; the CCL Advisory Committee, which is composed of alumni and key community college leaders across the country; and ODU faculty and students.
ODU's doctoral degree program in community college leadership supports the university's commitment to technology-delivered learning by providing graduate leadership courses using multiple delivery modalities. Classes are provided through ODU's distance learning delivery systems, including satellite, streaming video and video-conferencing.
The mission of the CCL program is to provide high-quality instruction and advising to students desiring to complete a doctoral program, and to assist graduates of the program to assume executive-level leadership positions in community colleges and to provide excellent leadership for these colleges.
Some of the unique issues addressed in the program include the diversity of the student body, the role of the community college in the higher education system, the role and expectations of the communities hosting the community college, and the importance of the workforce preparation the community colleges provide for the local community.