Cranford, NJ – The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) announced the inaugural participants in the Presidents & Trustees Collaborative – an initiative designed to strengthen board-president alignment in support of lasting reforms that improve community college student outcomes. UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ is one of ten institutions across the nation to be selected for the inaugural cohort.
This multi-year effort will begin with a national cohort of ten community colleges and two statewide partnerships with the Texas Success Center and the Michigan Community College Association. The cohort members and state partners will work with Aspen to scale high-impact board development and advance governance reforms that embed student success as a core priority and sustain meaningful change.
This multi-year initiative will engage college leaders through a series of in-person and virtual sessions focused on aligning governance practices with student success priorities. Guided by Aspen’s trustee framework and lessons from Aspen Prize-winning institutions, participants will explore proven strategies for how boards and presidents can collaborate effectively to build long-term governance structures that drive student outcomes and set new standards for leadership accountability in the field.
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen that community colleges make the most progress when presidents and trustees are unified in purpose and aligned in strategy,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program. “Through the Presidents & Trustees Collaborative, we’re advancing the field by working with colleges and statewide partners to strengthen that alignment—grounding governance in student success priorities, sustaining reforms through leadership transitions, and ultimately driving long-term improvements in student outcomes.”
“The UCNJ community is honored to be selected as one of only ten institutions nationwide to participate in this collaboration with the Aspen Institute. This initiative deepens the College’s commitment to help our students earn a college credential that leads to a family living wage. We look forward to working alongside national leaders to strengthen governance practices that will support transformational change for our students” stated UCNJ’s President Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin.
By fostering stronger collaboration between presidents and trustees, the Presidents & Trustees Collaborative aims to embed student success into the very fabric of college governance. With support from Aspen and in partnership with leading institutions and statewide organizations, participating colleges will serve as national models for what it takes to sustain transformational change—and set a new standard for leadership and accountability across community colleges.
To learn more about the collaborative, visit highered.aspeninstitute.org/programs/presidents-trustees-collaborative.
About the Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program aims to strengthen higher education leadership and practice to improve student outcomes—with the ultimate goal of advancing economic mobility and developing talent for the good of each individual and society as a whole.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
About UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ
UCNJ is a public comprehensive community college that provides quality, affordable, accessible educational programs to the greater Union County region. It is the first of New Jersey’s 18 two-year colleges, serving both career-minded and transfer-oriented students since 1933. The College offers a wide variety of academic programs and extracurricular activities. UCNJ provides many experiential learning opportunities such as access to the Bloomberg Business Center, Innovation Center, and Student Research Lab. Additionally, students at UCNJ attend one of the top 10 community colleges in the country as designated by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. To learn more about UCNJ, visit www.ucc.edu.