RCC President Elected Trustee Of Teachers College, Columbia

from Rockland Community College:

ROCKLAND COUNTY – Teachers College, Columbia University has announced that Dr. Michael A. Baston, President of Rockland Community College, has been elected to the College’s Board of Trustees for a term of three years. Teachers College, Columbia University, based in New York City, is the first and largest graduate school of education in the United States and offers over 150 programs for students to earn graduate degrees conferred by Columbia University.

Dr. Baston was named president of Rockland Community College in 2017. Under his leadership, RCC launched a Hospitality and Culinary Arts Center, a new Guided Pathways influenced academic school model, Career and English Skills Academies to address middle-skills workforce needs and secured over $30 million in grants including back-to-back Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institution awards, the largest in RCC’s history. Dr. Baston’s groundbreaking “Steps Beyond Statements” Initiative has helped to signal specific steps that educational institutions can take to foster inclusive excellence.

Dr. Baston was named one of the country’s most Notable Education Leaders of 2017 by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. He serves as the 7th President of Rockland Community College and is a national thought leader amplifying the role community colleges play in redefining educational success, leading diversity, equity, and inclusion campus-wide reform efforts, and developing executive leadership teams.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Dr. Baston began his career as a public interest lawyer representing various educational institutions and social justice organizations. His work with academic clients led him to pursue a second career in academia as both a professor of legal studies and business, and as a student affairs administrator. Prior to serving as President of Rockland Community College, Dr. Baston was Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Provost at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, NY.

Dr. Baston holds a B.A. from Iona College, a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, and an Ed.D from St. John Fisher College. He received the National Council on Student Development’s Terry O’Banion Gold Prize in 2015 and the NAACP Community Leadership Award in 2010.

About Teachers College, Columbia University About Rockland Community College, State University of New York sunyrockland.edu

This press release was produced by Rockland Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.