Samuel Soliman

Provide leadership and strategic vision for over 70 liberal arts, sciences, and career and technology education majors, as well as adult and community education programs at four locations. Provide direction for educational planning, curriculum implementation, and assessment. Create and modify performance metrics and data management to track student achievement and support intervention strategies. Lead faculty and staff development initiatives with a focus on improving teaching methods, improving content to meet current workforce demands, and using technologies to support student-centered pedagogies. Lead program development efforts to expand course offerings, use of Learning Management System for online and in-person courses, and reduce barriers to improve student access for concurrent, traditional, and non-traditional students. Manage Perkins grant and CTE teacher certifications. Prepare reports for and ensure compliance with federal, state, and accreditation agencies. Provide constructive feedback to enhance performance and deliver proven leadership skills to implement processes that foster continuous quality improvement. Build partnerships with industries and community stakeholders to align academic programs with emerging workforce needs with an emphasis on stewardship with resource allocations. Advocate for faculty and students in a variety of ways and domains. Foster shared governance. Support departments like Marketing, Institutional Research, Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, Student Services, and Institutional Development. Cultivate an enthusiastic workplace culture, emphasizing teamwork, listening skills, and a collaborative, committed approach to achieving organizational goals and outcomes.

Key Achievements

• Increased online teaching by over 500% in three years from 6 courses in AY 21-22 to 347 in AY 24-25, generating $1M in unanticipated revenue for AY 23-24 and $2.5M in AY 24-25.
• Secured the following grants: $850K for behavioral health initiatives, $500K for new paramedic program, 100K for wildfire mitigation, $40K for technical career pathways, $250K from the National Science Foundation for alternative energy programs, $50K for faculty to adopt OER resources, $200K for expanding inclusive and online education.
• Successfully completed HLC Assurance Review and Peer Review reports and processes.
• Enhanced institutional, program, and course assessments; led faculty workshops to improve and expand Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs) and develop Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) for all majors.
• Standardized course syllabi templates to link ISLOs, PSLOs, and Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLOs) and implemented new information software system to improve academic operations and assessment data tracking.
• Transitioned student-course evaluations to include all classes compared to the previous selective evaluation model.
• Led staff to increase concurrent enrollment by 13.5% from 416 in AY 22-23 to 472 in AY 23-24.
• Led faculty and staff to achieve consecutive annual graduation rate increases of 7%.
• Expanded Yuma campus by offering more in-person and synchronous online courses.
• Made dual-credit education more accessible and affordable for homeschoolers to be equivalent to public school students’ costs.
• Presented at multiple regional and national conferences on assessment and credit-for-prior learning innovations.
• Hosted the Colorado Regional Assessment Conference in February 2024 and delivered keynote introduction.
• Launched innovative educational programs like the accelerated bilingual business program (enabling working adults to earn an Associate degree in one year), the one-of-a-kind, 2+3 accelerated Master's Degree in Addictions Counseling, and new 2+2 programs in Agriculture Education, Business Administration, and Accounting with Colorado State University.
• Introduced new programs, including Barbering, Certified Medical Aid, Paramedic, and CDL.
• Aligned Sports Management curriculum with UCCS and Metropolitan State University standards.
• Sent delegation with the U.S. Fullbright Program to South Korea to expand international education partnerships and sought discussion in renewing former partnerships with Japanese sister colleges.
• Acquired ImagineIt software for CAD and other CTE programs requiring blueprint skills.
• Implemented trauma-informed practices and Skills Instruction Programs for education students and teachers in the region.
• Assisted faculty in designing 5-week Wind Energy and Welding classes for accelerated skill development.
• Partnered with 21st Century Ag, the largest John Deere dealership in the region, for workforce training for diesel technicians.
• Partnered with CCCS, MDRC, and Teacher’s College at Columbia University to launch study on the efficacy of self-placement into courses by college students.
• Support Director of Nursing and nursing faculty in enhancing curriculum, attaining new simulators and providing expanding simulation training, and offering academic support, coaching and mentoring which resulted in 95% pass rate for the new NCLEX Next Gen.
• Expanded T-PREP (Teacher Program for Rural Educators) with the University of Colorado Denver to include 2+2 degrees on campus in Sterling in Education, Early Childhood, Special Education, and Middle School Math and Secondary Science.
• Worked with staff to establish a gateway-cohort program for women in residential addiction treatment.
• Audited over 400 online courses using Healthy Course Checklist and Quality Matters standards.
• Personally developed 23 new online courses; personally taught 13 in person and online courses in humanities, sociology, psychology, and business.
• Prepared for the construction of new $14M Applied Technology Building to house applied technology programs.
• Increased OER usage to 44 courses (which includes many sections for each), offering no costs for textbooks or curriculum resources.
• Help with piloting MANUAL, a personal development program for male students of color, achieving 100% retention for participants in Spring 2024.
• Hosted Colorado Regional Assessment Conference with over 100 participants from regional colleges and universities and renowned keynote speakers focused on assessment and quality improvement plans and practices.
• Hosted regional Career Fair, which attracted more than 800 Colorado high school students and more than 80 employers and was the largest of its kind in the state.
• Hosted Regions 1 and 5 CTE Listening Tour and collected data from all CTE providers’ priorities of needs.
• Resurrected college’s Honors Program and supported local chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society.
• Supported NJC's annual Culture Fair, which attracted over 600 participants from the college and local community.
• Improved academic assessments with streamlined data collection, rubrics, and assessment software.
• Hosted a Mass Casualty Exercise in collaboration with FEMA and local first responders.
• Attained CDL simulator and updated allied health training mannequins for state-of-the-art hands-on training.
• Supported faculty and staff in providing Kid's College for K-8 students, offering diverse classes such as soil science, wildland management, philosophy, crime scene investigation, and so on.
• Hosted major events, including FBLA competitions, FFA Regional and Career Development Events, and Math and Science contests that attracted hundreds of high school students to campus.
• Joined NACADA and NADOHE to provide specialized advising and diversity training for faculty and staff.
• Assisted efforts to renovate campus facilities, including the library, student recreational, and adult education areas.
• Work with IT to convert 35 classrooms into SMART rooms offering advanced audio, video, and streaming capabilities to hold synchronous classes with students in other remote locations.
• Supported faculty and staff in producing successful theater productions and ensemble concerts, organizing public forums for elected officials and nonpartisan election ballot breakdowns, art galleries, and new student clubs and events like Music and Broadcasting Clubs and the high-attendance NJC's Got Talent.
• Supported faculty and staff in enrolling students from six continents and 22 countries for the first time in the college's history.
• Supported staff in achieving 3rd place among all Colorado colleges for credential attainment by adult learners of color, Ranked 217 in WalletHub's Best Community Colleges (NJC was the highest among the three Colorado community colleges on the list), Earned the Best Student Support Services by Intelligent.com in 2023, Received the Most Engaged Campus for Student Voting Award from Washington Monthly Magazine, joining only 394 colleges out of 5,000 U.S. institutions, Ranked the third-best Colorado community college by Niche in 2023, featured on Amazon Prime's The College Tour (Season 11, Episode 4).

• Research and develop new programs and development strategies
• Collaborate with international education and regional faculty, artists, non-profits, and businesses, implementing economic and community development initiatives.

Provided leadership and consultative, collaborative administration of all full-time and part-time faculty, registrar, library services, career services, institutional research, student life, and academic support programs and staff. Created and expanded online education and distance learning. Provided vision and led strategic planning initiatives. Oversaw numerous academic and student affairs committees and oversaw their annual operating budgets. Provided group presentations and written reports to the board of trustees, faculty, staff, students, parents, accreditation agencies, and community leaders, and ensured compliance with federal, state, and accreditation agencies. Expanded shared governance structures and accountability measures. Administered performance evaluations and continuous improvement practice assessments. Built networks and partnerships with key industry and community leaders. Oversaw academic and student affairs adjudication processes and reporting. Served as point-of-contact for faculty and students’ advocacy. Supervised and led graduation, honors, and orientation ceremonies. Assisted marketing, admissions, financial aid, institutional development, and athletics with recruiting and fundraising.

Key Achievements

Administrative:

• Secured $2.1M Lilly Foundation grants to improve and expand academic and student life programs
• Established college as the first private institution in a statewide reciprocal transfer agreement between public and private universities
• Mobilized faculty to re-evaluate and choose a new Learning Management System, saving the college $1.5M by negotiating a new contract with better faculty, student, and assessment features
• Established and maintained transfer-pathway agreements with 20+ regional universities
• Improved student success by offering free textbooks and expanding tutoring and work-study programs
• Procured $1.1M worth of veterinarian and allied health equipment for $43K
• Decreased operating costs for Academic and Student Affairs by 25%+ for four consecutive years
• Decreased $300K of nursing department expenditures while doubling the number of full-time faculty
• Led campus-wide policy reviews, wrote new security policies, and streamlined all to a central location.
• Led Higher Learning Commission Assurance Review and received commendations for continuous improvement with curricular and programmatic assessment
• Maintained lobbying efforts with the IN Commission for Higher Education & Independent Colleges of IN

Student Success:

• Created new comprehensive conduct policies for non-academic, residential, Title IX, and athletic matters
• Modified early alert system intervention strategies that decreased D-F grades by 40% from AY 2017-18, 71% from 2018-19, and 54% from 2019-20
• Increased student engagement by 250%+ in three years by creating new activities and clubs and establishing local chapters of national organizations
• Created an on-campus Wellness Office for physical evaluations and bolstered mental health counseling services on-campus and off-campus through collaboration with local providers.

Academics:

• Received Higher Learning Commission accreditation for online delivery of all courses and majors.
• Assisted in the creation of new Business, Communications, Marketing, Education, Journalism, Environment Science, Math, and Computer Science (including networking and coding) courses.
• Created new majors in Animal Science, Crop Science, Veterinarian Nursing, Culinary Arts, Religious Studies, Theology, Environmental Tech, Liberal Arts, and Mass Communications.
• Created college honors program.
• Incorporated Exceptional Customer Service, Client Relations, and Management Skills training in Social Science, Business Administration, and Nursing curriculum.
• Attained Conexus approval for logistics curriculum; its advisory Board composed of UPS, Rolls Royce, Cummins, Roche, and Red Gold Tomato executives define it as the best curriculum in the state.
• Improved new agriculture program, added buildings, and modified spaces of the Boer Goat Research Center and Veterinarian Center.
• Three years of record dual-credit enrollment on campus.
• Increased community engagement learning by more than 120 percent in two years.
• Increased out-of-classroom learning opportunities (internships, clinicals, etc.) by 62% in 3 years.
• Improved student-athletes GPAs, resulting in a 73 percent increase in the dean's list & honor roll recipients.
• Implemented porcine forensic lab for Criminal Justice program, the only kind in the state.
• Attained $45K+ in Ball Brothers and Community Foundation Grants for Rising Stars Summer Pathway Program that awards college credit to high school juniors and seniors.
• Developed a standardized system to award college credits for prior professional learning experiences.
• Improved course, program, and institutional-level assessment processes; created Assessment Handbook.
• Led Town Hall Meetings and Advisory Boards for Business, Education, Criminal Justice, Nursing, Vet Nursing, and Computer Science.

Faculty Development:

• Provided regular training on universal design, diversified teaching methodologies, and using social media, online applications, and emerging technologies to enhance teaching and learning.
• Doubled the amount of professional development training faculty receive in three years.
• Provided regulatory updates (i.e. Title IX, FERPA, ADA, etc.) and best practice and continuous improvement training at Faculty In-Service Institute prior to the beginning of each fall and spring semester.
• Provided assessment training at the end of each academic year.
• Provided Quality Matters training for faculty, the gold standard in online course design and assessment.

Community Education and Engagement:

• Collaborated with the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative (NCAVC) to deliver dual-credit vocational courses for 10 regional school corporations.
• Provided Grant writing and fundraising classes for Peoples’ University and collaborated in providing Blanchard Leadership training to regional businesses and city governments.
• Participated in Blueberry and Pulse Festivals, Northwest Indiana Urban League's College Fair achieving on-site college acceptance and financial aid awarding to 150+ students, and Indiana Promise Made in Marshall County hosting 1400 students and giving each a $50 college savings account. Hosted Farm Bill Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly which Politico covered

Recruited student-athletes. Led practices, coordinated workout plans, and scheduled travel accommodations. Counseled students on course selection and schedules. Supervised study tables and tutored athletes.

• Provided leadership for strategic thinking and decision-making for Sociology, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Business, History, Education, Sports Management, and Hospitality and Tourism. Oversaw development of new business and social science courses. Coordinated course schedules with faculty, division chairs, and registrar. Attained professional development training for faculty. Hired and trained faculty. Provided faculty, course, and program assessments. Supported student development, alum association, admissions, institutional research and institutional development
• Provided content for new programs in Hospitality and Tourism, Sports Management and Logistics
• Secured $1M in grants to expand Business, Computer Science, and Allied Health programs
• Revamped elementary, secondary, and early childhood education curriculum and attained Indiana Association for Education of Young Childhood approval and scholarship funding
• Developed online business administration major, receiving HLC approval in 2017
• Increased internship participation by three-fold by increasing number of providers, implementing new major requirements and participating with INTERNnet, the statewide partnership between colleges, businesses, & Workforce Development
• Hosted Industry Leaders for advisory councils on curriculum development and employer feedback
• Worked with faculty from Purdue and Valparaiso Universities and St. Joseph and Calumet Colleges on curricular and transfer alignment of Social Science, History, and Business majors
• Assisted businesses and community organizations to implement the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Alliance to End Homelessness Point-In-Time program
• Create winter term to help students advance course loads and boost guest student revenues.

• Created and taught sociology, psychology, religion, and first-year experience courses. Scheduled social science courses. Trained new faculty. Advised and enrolled students. Created and coordinated service-learning opportunities. Wrote and edited press releases and institutional publications
• Given 'Realizing the Dream’ Faculty Award by Eli Lilly Foundation & Independent Colleges of Indiana
• First faculty member to teach online classes (2009); first to create online major and gain HLC approval.
• Faculty Adviser for Student Government Association (2011-2013).
• Created Arts and Culture Festival (2012) which continues annually in April.
• Worked collaboratively with State Workforce Development Department and taught free 'Intro to College' classes to Adult Basic Education students as part of the We Believe in You Program.

• Provided leadership of testing center, disability services and, peer-learning groups & tutoring.
• Led academic workshops and taught ESL classes.
• Procured $65K in grants from community foundations and businesses for computers for Math and Writing Labs.
• Expanded services instruction and tutoring by 75% in two years.

• Provided guidance and leadership launching two non-profit organizations serving elementary and secondary students and college students from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University South Bend, Bethel University, Holy Cross, and St . Mary’s colleges. Built Board and governance system. Supervised accounting, fundraising, and management operations.

• For Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Division of Mental Health and Addictions providing strategic leadership and supervision of 150+ educational programs serving 4,500+ students. Led budget development and oversaw annual operating budgets for all providers. Assisted providers in writing RFPs and grants. Ensured compliance and conducted regular auditing practices and site visit evaluations. Consulted on innovative course development and implementation. Recruited and promoted teachers. Led monthly and annual education and training related to best practices on student development and engagement. Set vision and goals for student retention and assisted education providers in achieving those benchmarks. Distributed and collected surveys to educational institutions and conducted data analysis in conjunction with Indiana University. Served as communication liaison for education providers, state government, and Indiana University.
• Secured and allocated more than $6M in federal and state grants and non-grant monies
• Expanded collaborative educational partnerships to include 200+ businesses, colleges, and nonprofits
• Created the first publicly-funded bilingual Latinx after-school program in the state
• Created Indiana's first after-school substance abuse prevention programming in Kosciusko County
• Secured funding and manage Law Enforcement Education Partnership in northern Indiana.

• Provided executive leadership of social services in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Oversaw annual operating budget. Led management initiatives from counseling clients to resource allocations of FEMA and other funds for housing, food, medical, and rehabilitative assistance. Implemented new technology adoption, updated CRM system, and improved overall intake and customer service processes. Served as media representative.
• Used innovation in leveraging resources to create partnerships with community leaders, municipal agencies and other non-profits that allowed organization to triple the number of people served while reducing overhead costs by 40 percent.
• Secured $2M in donations in 4 months through fundraising drive with private and public companies
• Created Box City, a three-day advocacy fundraiser for people without housing that raises $30k and CNN covers.