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By Stephanie Briggs
Sun Newspapers
July 22, 2010
Like 70 percent of the students who go to North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, John O'Brien was a first- generation college student.
Growing up in Worthington, Minn., his friends talked about getting away to a college while it wasn't discussed much at home. But education was always deemed important in his family, and it was O'Brien's own college experience that led him down a path to being North Hennepin's new president.
"When I went to college it was literally like the clouds parted for me," said O'Brien, 47, of Minneapolis. "College changes your life and creates opportunities you may not have known existed."
Singing had always interested him, but it wasn't until he heard his college's choir that he saw an opportunity to be in one. He still sings in a community choir today.
College has been an important part of O'Brien's life even after he graduated in 1984 from Augustana College in South Dakota with a degree in English and education. He also earned his master's in Anglo-Irish literature from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in Ireland and earned a doctorate in English from the University of Minnesota.
Before starting July 1 as North Hennepin's fifth president, O'Brien directed the "Students First" project, a Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system initiative to improve student services across the state. Before that he was the acting president, academic vice president and chief academic officer at Century College in White Bear Lake.
O'Brien takes over for retired president Ann Wynia. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees appointed him to the position in March.
His career stretches across a plethora of colleges and universities in the Midwest. O'Brien has served as an associate vice chancellor for instructional technology in the Office of the Chancellor and an instructor and faculty association president at Normandale Community College. He has also taught English at Augustana, the University of Minnesota, Augsburg College and the University of St. Thomas.
It was as a college student when he realized he could make a difference as a teacher and as his career progressed he learned that there were many ways to make a difference in the higher educational system.
"I knew as a teacher I could make a difference with students, but in leadership roles I learned I could make a bigger difference creating programs that could help even more," O'Brien said. "It's a different landscape."
Working in the higher education landscape O'Brien has seen the changes and challenges colleges like North Hennepin face.
"We need to improve student completion," O'Brien said. "An increasing number of at risk students aren't college ready."
That's why O'Brien is glad to be at North Hennepin which has a tutoring program and support services where faculty go into local schools to help students make college a future reality.
With the extraordinary diversity at North Hennepin and its surrounding communities opening the doors to all is just as important as helping them get there, he said.
"We have around 80 different countries represented here," O'Brien said. "Being in college is about learning about yourself and others and being exposed to different cultures."
Funding is another major challenge colleges like North Hennepin face. O'Brien said the real worry for colleges is the 2012-2013 school year.
"With a $6 billion shortfall you do the math," he said. "It's very menacing and worrisome for higher education."
Though North Hennepin's enrollment grows each year, which is a good thing, it can put a strain on the overwhelmed staff.
"Further cuts to higher education are inevitable given the economic forecast for the next three years," O'Brien said. "Funding is down at the same time as colleges are experiencing their largest enrollments creating a painful perfect storm. Our communities are hurting and students who have lost jobs and need retraining rely on us now more than ever."
Colleges can't control the cuts imposed on them, but the financial crisis can encourage them to be more active in retaining and graduating the students currently being lost, he said.
"Improving retention and graduation rates will not only improve student success, but also help to offset some of our budget losses," O'Brien said.
Legislators have attempted to put off funding with seeing a declining number of college students completing their education, which is why college student completion is one of O'Brien's top priorities.
But that comes with it's own challenge. There is no longer a typical, 18-year-old college student roaming the halls of North Hennepin, many are adult learners either furthering their education or just finally getting to it. Today many were laid off and need to find new education for a new career or simply find a better way to support their families, he said.
"Some who come to us come for convenience and affordability, but many stay for our great faculty, resources, care, activities and more," O'Brien said.
Despite all the different classes filled with a variety of students, for O'Brien being at college comes down to one thing that can't be measured by tests or papers.
"College makes you a more complete person," he said. "I believe community colleges make a powerful difference in the lives of our students."
O'Brien hopes the difference he makes at North Hennepin changes things for the better for all there and looks forward to the challenges ahead. |