Oakton hires Alimboyoguen as assistant dean for health careers

Maribel “May” Alimboyoguen, selected as Oakton Community College’s first assistant dean for health careers from among 42 applicants, is set to begin working at Oakton Monday, April 30.

“May has the professional background that will support her administrative responsibilities for our programs, and her upbringing in Skokie helps her relate to the special needs of Oakton students living within our district,” says Bob Sompolski, Oakton dean of STEM and health careers. “With her credentials in online instruction, the college will be able to accelerate the development of online health career courses.”

Alimboyoguen, who serves as the director of medical programs, dental hygiene, at Malcolm X College, has taught at the City Colleges of Chicago since 2003. As director, she has led program operations, including the on-site patient-care clinic, and reviewed and revised programmatic assessment and policies to align with external stakeholders’ performance measures.

At Oakton, Alimboyoguen will assist the dean by providing academic support for health career program chairs, coordinators and students. She will help manage operational functions for health career departments and provide direct supervision for support staff. She will also help the dean, chairs and coordinators field and respond to student inquiries and complaints. Working collaboratively with health careers department chairs and coordinators, the assistant dean provides leadership for recruitment and outreach initiatives for health career programs.

“I am excited to come back to Oakton, where I am familiar with the community and the quality education,” says Alimboyoguen, who attended Oakton during summers in the late 1990s, noting her father was able to obtain a career in computer science to support a family of six after attending Oakton. “My immediate goal is to engage with program chairs, students and clinical and external partners in order to gain the knowledge of each health career program’s unique structure. My long-term goals focus on increasing the community’s awareness of the various program offerings and providing the resources for faculty, program chairs and coordinators in their efforts to address the needs of the students.”

Alimboyoguen earned her Master of Online Teaching certification from the University of Illinois-Springfield and master’s degree in training and development from the University of St. Francis. She is a 1999 graduate of Marquette University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences/dental hygiene.