New president just wanted to be a teacher – and she still is

New president just wanted to be a teacher – and she still is

The new president at Washtenaw Community College was not college material. She was better suited to be a secretary. At least that’s what her high school counselor told her after she took an assessment test in high school.

She certainly fooled them.

Dr. Rose Bellanca was unanimously named the fourth president in WCC history on June 14 by the Board of Trustees. Obviously, Bellanca did not listen to her career counselor. As a result, she has spent her entire career in education and offers herself as a testament to the kind of difference a good education can make in people’s lives.

“The lives we touch, it’s remarkable,” Bellanca said in her first address to the college last Tuesday.

WCC has always been a destination job for Bellanca. She said she admired what WCC was accomplishing and always tried to push her schools to emulate the way Washtenaw did things.

“WCC has always been one of the community colleges that I have held in high esteem. WCC has always been ahead of the curve,” Bellanca said soon after accepting the job. “It’s unbelievable that I’m going to be at a place that I’ve admired so much.”

Dreams can come true

Bellanca always wanted to be a teacher, but after being told she wasn’t college material, she thought her dream was over. Instead, she went to a private business school to learn to be an executive secretary, and on her first job continued to pursue teaching opportunities. She was told she needed a teaching certificate, so on the advice of a friend she applied for admission to Macomb Community College.

“They take anybody,” the friend told her. And they did. But after taking admissions tests, she found herself in remedial education classes that prepared her for college credit work.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“I liked the entire aspect of education,” Bellanca said. “We teach people how to really achieve their goals.”

At MCC, Bellanca would earn her first degree, an Associate of Arts, and from there she was off and running.

Soon, Bellanca was able to live out her dreams as she began teaching culinary arts on the K-12 level. She also worked on other vocational programs at the various school districts she worked at early in her career. Eventually, she began seeking administrative roles that took her out of the classroom.

Bellanca would ultimately take a position at a school she was quite familiar with, MCC. During her time at Macomb, she continued to teach while she worked in administrative roles under then-president Al Lorenzo. Hard work and determination would lead Bellanca all the way to the positions of provost and chief academic officer, serving in those roles from 1996-2002. It was during that time that Bellanca began watching the way WCC was changing and how her institution could follow their lead.

“I’ve always tried to emulate what you were doing,” Bellanca said in her inaugural address to Washtenaw employees.

Coming to WCC

When the WCC Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint Bellanca president, she was thrilled.

“I’ve known that you (WCC) have always been one step ahead, for the right reasons,” Bellanca said during the board meeting. “I assure you that I will work my hardest, you have my dedication and my support.”

The board voted on May 17 to extend an offer to Bellanca on two conditions: a successful site visit and the negotiation of a three-year contract starting at a base salary of $195,000.

Those plans changed once the board spoke with Bellanca’s references and took a look at her background provided by the Association of Community College Trustees, the consulting firm that helped select candidates for Washtenaw’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

“Once we had reviewed that material and shared it with the board, we felt that a site visit was not needed,” said Pam Horiszny, chair of the college’s board of trustees.

Board Secretary Mark Freeman gushed over the appointment of Bellanca. “We had a wish list of what we wanted to see in a president and I felt that the moment we got to sit down and interview you, we had found that person,” he said.

Trustee Richard Landau was happy with the work the board did in finding Bellanca. “We’ve learned everything about her except her favorite color,” joked Landau, who added the search was “an extremely diligent process.”

Bellanca’s contract includes $15,000 in annual salary as a deferred payment and $7,000 a year for expenses. She began working on Aug. 15.

“I have huge shoes to fill,” Bellanca said in reference to former president Larry Whitworth.

Those shoes needed to be filled once Whitworth announced he was leaving WCC last year. The search to find the next president was a lengthy one, and involved six different candidates coming to WCC to be interviewed.

“Sometimes the path that is the right path takes a little more work,” said Trustee Anne Williams.

Trustee Stephen Gill, who also served on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, was confident that Bellanca was the right choice for WCC.

“We’re a great institution and you can help us continue to be great,” he said. “You have our solid approval,” Gill said.

A learning experience

While at MCC, Bellanca was approached about the presidency opening at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron. After interviewing with SC4 and learning more about the campus and the people there, Bellanca accepted the position in 2002.

It seemed like a good fit for both the school and Bellanca, but eventually problems arose between her and some factions on campus.

“It wasn’t easy, it was a very challenging time there,” Bellanca acknowledged. “But they’re great people.”

Despite the resistance from some members on campus, Bellanca would not waver in her vision for SC4.

“I tried to work as collaborative as possible,” she said. “As a president, you have to do what’s right for your students and your community.”

While some members of the college fought her at every turn, others saw what Bellanca was trying to accomplish and supported her.

“I loved her, I was sad when she left,” said Michelle Mueller, dean of Workforce Development at SC4. “She was an excellent administrator in terms of vision.”

Part of what set Bellanca apart from the crowd at SC4 was her push to look outside of traditional sources to improve the school. She wanted to challenge the college to explore new avenues of development. Because there was not a lot of competition with SC4, Mueller said, some members of the community were set in their ways because they had no basis of comparison.

“She didn’t trust anybody,” said Linda Flickinger, the chief negotiator for the faculty union at SC4 during Bellanca’s presidency. “She brought people in from the outside.”

One of the issues Flickinger railed against was Bellanca’s decision to outsource the Information Technology department because of the overwhelming problems with the network at SC4. While Flickinger was not happy about the outsourcing, Mueller said it was necessary.

“She (Bellanca) improved IT through a campus committee and by outsourced networking,” Mueller said.

Another complaint from SC4 staffers interviewed by The Voice via telephone and during a visit to the campus was communication. Many times, employees felt that their voices were not being heard, and their opinions did not matter.

“When there was conflict, it arose from trying to enact policies without engaging with the people they would affect,” said Jim Frank, an English professor. “I think she learned a lot from her experiences here, the sort of relationships you need to build when you’re administrating over a college, the importance of good communication and the importance of information that should be shared when possible.”

Bellanca’s time was not a disaster by any means. The most important part of any school is the focus on students, which many say is one of her strengths.

“One of the things that turned out positive was, we had a troublesome accreditation,” Frank said.

“Even though she wasn’t here to see that through to the end, she did get it started and some people she had in her administration saw that through.”

Mueller said Bellanca was very engaged with students, and made it a point to attend events that were student-driven.

“I think the students loved her, she did a lot for students,” Mueller said. “She’s very sincere and passionate about students.”

Bellanca admits things didn’t always go as she would have hoped, but being the educator that she is she looks at her time at SC4 as a valuable and worthwhile experience.

“I learned from my mistakes, and we learned from the things we did well,” she said. “It made me a strong person.”

A new era dawns at WCC

While her past may have been cloudy at times, Bellanca envisions a bright future as she begins her time at WCC.

“I’m excited,” she says with a genuine smile. “I’m not coming to change things; I’m coming to continue to propel WCC forward.”

Bellanca has no plans on trying to jump right in and make an impression early. Instead she wants to do what she does best: Learn.

“I’d like to be involved for the first three months as much as possible; I want to do a lot of listening,” Bellanca said. “I want to learn about what we do well. I want to learn about the students. I’d like to be a resource for people, even if they just need someone to talk to.”

One of her more successful events at her previous schools was “Brew with Bellanca,” a monthly meeting where students are invited to come speak with Bellanca about their concerns while enjoying a cup of coffee or root beer. She plans on doing something similar at WCC.

Bellanca feels that because of her roots in community college, she has a better understanding of what students are looking for when they come to WCC. “A community college to me has a very special place because they helped me make my dream come true.”

Not all dreams are the same and Bellanca knows that. She acknowledges that not everyone who attends WCC needs a two-year degree. For her, success is measured in a variety of ways.

“Student success is whatever the student decided what their success was in when they came in,” Bellanca said. “For some it’s a degree, for some it’s to transfer, for some it’s to gain some training.”

One goal that Bellanca has talked about is curriculum innovation and development. She believes in taking chances in order to help students learn more about their chosen fields.

“The important thing is ‘what are the students learning?’ It’s not about what is wrong; it’s about what we’re teaching the student.”

She also knows that just because WCC has been successful in the past she can’t rest on her laurels.

“WCC is great at innovation already. We can’t stay stagnant,” she said. “As long as the board is in support of what I do, I’m going to do what’s right for the student and the campus.”

First Impressions

Bellanca’s first message to the campus community was a simple one: “Together we will continue on this path that WCC has forged.”

She stressed the importance of faculty on how they shape students, pointing to her own past – a student who was told in high school she was not college material.

“It’s because of people like you, that I am here,” she said. “Those faculty members gave me hope.

“I have seen how we have helped families. We’ve helped families improve their quality of life. The people who are out of jobs right now, we’re their hope.”

That message was heard loud and clear by the faculty.

“I think she is inspiring, she’s authentic,” said Rene Stark, a nursing faculty professor at WCC. “She’s a breath of fresh air; WCC is blessed to have her.”

Denise Crudup works in academic skills at WCC and was also impressed with Bellanca. “She can connect to the student’s background,” Cudrup said. “She was a community college student. She knows what we do here.”

And now that she has introduced herself to the campus, Bellanca begins her journey by helping everyone on campus grow and improve. “I believe anything is possible,” she said. “Everything is within your reach.”