Stories & Case Studies
During Community College Month, Achieving the Dream is spotlighting voices from its Leader Colleges and Leader Colleges of Distinction — exemplary institutions leading the way in advancing student success. Through a monthlong series organized around four themes, these stories highlight how progress happens at every level of an institution.
Our Leaders Listen spotlights showcase college leaders who are working to ensure that student voices actively shape institutional priorities, policies, and practices. In this Q&A, we highlight Dr. Stephen Wells, provost and chief academic officer at the Community College of Allegheny County (Pennsylvania), whose reflections highlight the role of leadership in creating the conditions for student success — from supporting faculty and removing barriers to ensuring that students play a role in institutional decision-making.
Q: What are the most important ways you, as provost and chief academic officer, help create the conditions for student success at your college?
A: The role of the provost is to cultivate the conditions that enable faculty to focus on their academic disciplines and build meaningful relationships with their students. This means minimizing distractions and removing barriers so they can remain focused on our core mission: providing a world-class learning experience delivered in a personal and caring educational environment.
Q: What have you learned about leadership by listening to students?
A: Our students are complex, thoughtful, and deeply engaged individuals who bring a wide range of abilities and experiences with them on their academic journey. Their stories are inspiring, empowering, and at times harrowing. Listening to them over the years has deepened my respect for their resilience and determination. It has shaped me into a more attentive and responsive leader, committed to keeping student success at the center of every decision.
“The role of the provost is to cultivate the conditions that enable faculty to focus on their academic disciplines and build meaningful relationships with their students.”
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Q: How do you ensure that student voices are part of leadership conversations and institutional strategy? Can you share an example of how student feedback influenced a decision or change at your college?
A: Student voices inform institutional decision-making at all levels. At Community College of Allegheny County [CCAC], a student trustee serves as a member of the board of trustees, sharing student perspectives, ideas, and concerns directly with board members and college leadership. As one example, during the college’s transition to a One-College organizational structure, all four campuses unified around a single mascot, Ace the Wild Cat. The student trustee recommended creating bronze statues to be located at each campus to serve as shared landmarks, imagining the phrase, “Meet me at the Wild Cat” becoming a ubiquitous call to gather. College leadership embraced the idea, engaging art program faculty and students to consult with a regional artist who designed, modeled, and cast the statues. In this case, student input helped shape not only a specific decision but also the identity and culture of the institution.
“Listening to [students] over the years has deepened my respect for their resilience and determination. It has shaped me into a more attentive and responsive leader, committed to keeping student success at the center of every decision.”
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Q: Community colleges serve incredibly diverse learners. How does leadership at your college work to meet students where they are while helping them move toward their goals?
A: CCAC meets students where they are through both aligned academic programs and holistic support services, many of which began as Achieving the Dream initiatives. On the academic side, industry advisory boards composed of employers, alumni, and students ensure programs prepare graduates for high-demand careers or transfer opportunities, reflecting leadership’s commitment to supporting students every step of the way. Beyond academics, students can access mental health counseling, resource navigators, and campus food pantries, helping them address personal, financial, and mental health needs so they can focus on their goals.
Q: During Community College Month, what do you wish more people understood about the impact of community colleges in their communities?
A: The CCAC family is very proud that 81% of our graduates leave our doors debt-free, and 90% live and work in the region. Community colleges are not only vital regional economic engines, but they also provide a pathway to lasting social mobility for our graduates and often for their families, who in many cases become the next generation of college students. As a CCAC graduate myself, I have personally experienced the transformative power of a community college education and its ripple effect across families and communities.