Dr. Kori Gregg, the third of four candidates interviewed this week for the president’s job at Allen Community College, admits she wasn’t always the best student. She was a first-generation college student and an athlete, a tennis player. Her academic advisor told her to stick with tennis. Maybe she wasn’t college material.
Perhaps that’s what motivated Gregg to earn not just one but two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree and her doctorate. She ran into that advisor 20 years later at a post office, where Gregg was mailing material as a finalist for a college president’s job.
“For years, that made me not believe in myself. And that’s why I’m so passionate now with students when I tell them, ‘Don’t give up on your dream,’” Gregg told a room of Allen students, faculty and staff during Wednesday morning’s public forum.
Gregg said she’s also passionate about working and living in Kansas. A native of the state, she currently serves as president and CEO of the Cowley College Foundation in Arkansas City.
She previously worked as an accountant but discovered the profession didn’t mesh well with her personality as “a people person.” She enjoyed teaching accounting and worked as an adjunct professor at Butler Community College. That’s when she first saw the value of two-year institutions and the impact they have on communities, particularly in rural areas.
“It’s like my passion just exploded. This is what I’ve been looking for,” she said. She would become a full-time instructor and then department chair at Butler before she pursued her doctorate.
Gregg said she values a team-driven approach to leadership.
“Everybody brings a particular value to a team and it’s important to have diversity. The important thing is to make sure we’re all moving in the same direction. We may have different ideas about how we get there, but we’re going to have a dialogue and figure out how to do it as a team,” she said.
“What makes us successful is to have an inclusive environment where everybody feels like they’re valued, and that their point of view is important.”
THE TRADITIONAL model for community college has changed, Gregg said. Not only do community colleges need to prepare students to transfer to a four-year university, they also need to meet student needs for technical education and workforce training. Allen’s board of trustees have committed to build a facility for Career and Technical Education programs. Cowley recently completed a similar, $8 million CTE facility that was completely funded by a state grant with matching funds raised from the community.
“We’ve got to start looking at innovative ways of increasing enrollment. Certainly, CTE is one of those opportunities. In order to do that, you have to have really strong industry partners. We have to be inextricably linked to the workforce of the community,” she said. “It’s exciting that you’re taking that step” in building a CTE facility, “but it requires great partnerships.”
She touted her experience in leading CTE and entrepreneurial initiatives at both Butler and Cowley.
“When I look at your strategic plan, I feel like I have a lot of experience in almost all the goals you set out.”
She said her primary goal as president would be “as the major cheerleader, advocating for the college, making sure that we have community connections, particularly in our smaller, rural communities,” she said.
“We’re all in this together. I would make sure that we have great relationships with the community, with industry, with our elected officials. All of that is very important. And fundraising.”
