|
 Dr. Althia Collins became
the 13th president of Bennett College on July 1, 2001. Prior to this, for
three years, she was the chief executive officer for Academic and
Educational Resources, an Alexandria, Virginia, based consulting company
that she founded to assist institutions in responding to changes that
affect their performance. As the CEO, Dr. Collins provided advice,
guidance, and support for accreditation, diversity, international
education, higher educational administration, and information technology.
Dr. Collins is a
native of Tennessee where she earned her graduate degrees from The
University of Tennessee. In 1976, she earned a Master of Science degree
in English Education. In 1982, she earned a Doctor of Education degree in
Educational Administration and Supervision with cognates in Higher
Education Administration and Communications.
Dr. Collins has
held administrative and faculty positions in public universities, private
and independent institutions, an academic medical center, a junior
college, and community colleges.
Prior to founding
Academic and Educational Resources, Dr. Collins was vice president for
academic affairs from 1994 to 1998 at U. S. International University with
campuses in San Diego and Orange County, California; Nairobi, Kenya; and
Mexico City, Mexico. Before holding this position of chief academic
officer, she was assistant vice president for academic affairs at Mankato
State University (Minnesota) from 1990 to 1994. She was executive
assistant to the president at the State University of New York (SUNY)
Health Science Center at Syracuse from 1988 to 1990.
As a faculty
member, Dr. Collins has held the ranks of instructor, assistant
professor, and associate professor of English.
Dr. Collins has
made presentations at national and international meetings of professional
organizations. She has served as a consultant in the U.S. and abroad,
conducting special workshops and group facilitations on numerous issues,
including: institutional change; strategic planning; faculty retention,
promotion, and tenure; achieving and succeeding with diversity and
multiculturality; administrative support for faculty development; global
education; internationalizing the curriculum; and accreditation
processes. Along these lines, she has provided services to the American
Council on Education-Washington, DC; the American Diabetes
Association-Washington, DC; Eastern Cape Technikon- Butterworth and
Queenstown Campuses, South Africa; US International University-Africa,
Nairobi, Kenya, and Mexico City, Mexico; the SUNY Health Science Center at
Syracuse and LeMoyne College, Syracuse. Dr. Collins has lectured and
participated in delegations to several countries, including Australia,
Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
For several years,
Dr. Collins has been active with the American Association of Higher
Education (AAHE), the AAHE Black Caucus, the Wilkins Forum which is part
of the University of Minnesota's Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations
and Social Justice, the American Educational Research Association, the
Association for the Study of Higher Education, and the National
Association for Women in Education. She was a Senior Fellow at the
American Council on Education (1999), and she held fellowships with the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities Academic
Leadership Academy (1991-93) and the National Institute of Education
(1980-82).
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