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Wayne D. Watson, Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago

Accomplishments

Chancellor & Educator

As Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, Wayne D. Watson, PhD is responsible for educational programs that serve an average of 115,000 students annually and oversees an administration with a $476.5 million budget and more than 5,700 full-time and part-time employees.

The City Colleges of Chicago, Community College District 508, is a system of seven independently accredited colleges - Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S. Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College.  WYCC-TV / Channel 20, a public television station, is also owned and operated by the Distirct.  

As Chief Executive Officer, Chancellor Watson has pledged that the City Colleges will provide instruction and services of the highest quality to Chicago’s citizens in one of the nation’s largest urban community college districts.  During his first year as Chancellor, Watson re-engineered the staff and reaffirmed a work culture that speaks to productivity and educational excellence.

Having earned a national reputation among his peers as an Agent of Change, and as profiled in the Chronicle of Higher Education (April 8, 2005), Chancellor Watson, committed to participatory governance, works with a strong team of vice chancellors and college presidents.  They are developing a five-year strategic plan – based on globalization - for 2011 to coincide with City Colleges 100th anniversary.

The planning process involves the recalibration of curricula and program standards and the optimization of CCC business processes to ensure the most effective use of operational and capital funds.

CCC programs and policies focus on establishing an institution of higher education with excellence as its district-wide standard.  Following are examples of the accomplishments that City Colleges has achieved.

  • Presided over the opening of the new Kennedy-King College located in the heart of Chicago’s Englewood community.  The 40-acre campus consists of six state-of-the-art buildings for arts & sciences, library, applied sciences, athletics, student services, day care, theater, CCC Center for Distance Learning, WKKC-FM radio, WYCC TV-20 and the Washburne Culinary Institute.
  • Secured the placement of more than 150 CCC students from the Dawson Technical Institute in union apprenticeships over a two-year period as a result of the partnership between Dawson and the Builders Association of Chicago.
  • Joined forces with the Office of the Mayor of Chicago, Chicago State University (CSU) and the Global Alliance of Africa to establish a scholarship program for Liberian students to become registered nurses under the direction of the nursing program at Olive-Harvey College (OHC).  It is anticipated that the first group of students will come to Chicago in the summer of 2008.  Upon successful completion of their course of study, the students will return to Liberia and will be able to contribute greatly to addressing the health issues facing their country.
  • Introduced the Get on the Bus college tour and fair as part of CCC’s recruitment initiative for the fall 2007 semester.  Co-sponsored with the Chicago Public Schools and the Rainbow/ Push Coalition, the tour was an opportunity for potential students to experience all seven of CCC’s colleges and learn of the high quality instruction available at an affordable cost.
  • Negotiated an unprecedented labor agreement – 12 months early - with the Cook County Teachers Union (CCCTU) Local 1600 that ensures six years of institutional continuity.  The proposed agreement was ratified by 86% of the CCTU faculty and 92% of the professionals and approved at a special meeting of the CCC Board of Trustees on May 23, 2007.
  • Achieved - for the first time in City Colleges’ 90-year history – all seven colleges concurrently hold the highest accreditation status (10 years) awarded by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
  • Elevated the District’s performance standard to one of excellence by establishing common exit competencies for general education and raising the minimum passing grade from D to C.
  • Developed and implemented the Annual Program and Service Analysis (APSA) - an innovative and precedent-setting quality improvement initiative to enhance programs and educational opportunities.  It requires all instructional programs to be evaluated annually through a quantitative, qualitative and fiscal analysis.  It is unique from existing program reviews in its frequency, its cost vs. revenue analysis and the detail of its findings.
  • Conceived and spearheaded Project Align – a unique K-16 undertaking with five local universities and the Chicago Public Schools – designed to better prepare high school students for college classes by linking curricula.  It aligns CPS exit competencies with the criteria of higher education.  CCC is the first community college in the country to head up a curriculum initiative of this magnitude.  It received the prestigious FIPSE grant to fund the project.
  • Implemented a $300 million capital development plan to build a new Kennedy-King College and to renovate the other six colleges of the District.
  • Entered into an articulation agreement with the National Labor College designed to increase access to union jobs and higher education for CCC students.  CCC associate degrees (including construction technology-union apprenticeship related coursework) will transfer to NLC bachelor degree programs. 
  • Forged an alliance with the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development to provide one-stop shopping for Chicagoans who need job training.
  • Established the Construction Technology Center at Dawson Institute of Kennedy-King College which is recognized as an important catalyst for change in the building trades by preparing more African-Americans, Hispanics and women for careers in the construction industry.
  • Received the Civic Federation of Chicago’s support for City Colleges FY 2007 budget that was cited for making impressive strides in implementing business process reforms that will enable CCC to better manage its resources.
  • Revitalized and expanded the Washburne Culinary Institute into a prominent culinary arts program with two state-of-the art facilities located at the historic South Shore Cultural Center and the new Kennedy-King College that opens in summer 2007.  The Parrot Cage Restaurant opened to critical acclaim in January 2006 and has become both a neighborhood and destination favorite in South Shore.  A restaurant is also planned for the new Kennedy-King College campus.
  • Created Student Success Centers – manned by college advisors focused on providing an improved and contemporary delivery of support services and expanded to be available to all CCC students - credit, workforce development and adult education.  The model for the centers received overwhelming approval when it was presented at the annual conference of the American Association of Community Colleges.  It was also nominated for the prestigious Bellwether Award, which is sponsored by the Community Colleges Futures Assembly.
  • Increased significantly the number of articulation agreements and dual partnerships with four-year institutions.
  • Strengthened CCC’s relationships with government agencies and the business community.
  • Raised CCC’s profile among Illinois legislators resulting in heightening the awareness of the need for comprehensive state funding reform.
  • Established town hall meetings for broadcast on WYCC as a venue for the exchange of opinions on important issues of the day, such as the Iraq War and stem cell research.
  • Created a collaboration between CCC broadcast students and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism to produce newscasts for broadcast on WYCC – TV 20.  CCC students wrote, edited, shot, produced and anchored various portions of the newscast.
  • Redefined the criteria for hiring faculty by implementing a candidate and hiring assessment tool to assist in identifying the best teaching talent.