Dr. Fifield served as president at two community colleges spanning 20 years: Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) in Massachusetts and Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania. During her tenure, each college was selected as national recipient for achievement of equity and opportunity for persons of color and women by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). She has served on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Association of Community Colleges, on the MA Governor’s Higher Education Leadership Transition Team, and the Commonwealth’s Workforce Investment Board. Her strengths include institutional transformation and creation of equitable student success strategies.
Education
PhD. | Saint Louis University
M.F.A. | Pratt Institute
B.A. | Clarke College
Past Experience
President | Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
President | Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), Pennsylvania
Vice-President of Academic Affairs | Mott Community College
Dean of Instruction | City Colleges of Chicago
Associate Professor | St. Louis Community College
How has education changed your life/your family?
My mother, who did not go to high school, used to say to me as we sat around the kitchen table, “Some day you will go to college.” This statement was so sacred to her that it sounded like a prayer when she spoke. Now, decades later, my educated life can be summed up best by my favorite quote from former Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham, who stated, “To love what you do and feel that it matters — how could anything be more fun.” Education gave me the gift of a meaningful life. How could anything else be more valuable?