by: Nicoline Hansen
It was officially announced during the Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Sept 18, 2019, that Dr. Pam Lau is promoted from the position of chief academic officer to being executive vice president of Parkland College. This will happen as part of an executive transition plan of Lau taking over the presidency when current president, Dr. Ramage, retires in December 2022.
The board voted in favor of Ramage being paid $269,694 annually through June 30, 2023 as well as Lau being paid an annual amount of $159,647 through June 30, 2023.
Being the president of a college is a big responsibility. It is a responsibility that Lau is ready to face. She refers to the next three years as a journey, learning the work of the current president. Lau shares that apart from being the public face of the college and interacting with people and businesses in the community, the job of the president is to set the strategic plan and decide what direction to take the college.
The college must constantly think about ways to stay attractive, meaningful and relevant all while fulfilling the needs of the district. Lau describes the importance of making sure that students are being prepared to transfer into a four-year institution but also to ensure that students finishing Parkland’s career programs have the skills that employers need.
“I had no understanding of the mission of community college [when first coming to Parkland],” Lau said. “I was familiar with four-year schools; I am a product of a four-year school… It was when I entered this institution, I began to realize the unique features of a community college.”
Lau came to the United States as an international student from Singapore. Being an international student meant that she came from a different culture and a different educational system. She describes the educational system as being meritocratic, meaning that you are rewarded for how well you do, and good grades get you into higher education. In this system, you would not get into higher education by being an average student.
“It wasn’t until I entered this institution that I began to realize the unique features of a community college,” Dr. Lau said. “Coming to Parkland made me realize that there is a different approach to higher ed. It is much more of what some people would call an egalitarian approach, where we say everyone who is interested should have access to higher education.”
Lau believes that just because students might not be ready for top universities, it does not necessarily mean that they cannot get a degree. What makes Parkland College unique is that it gives these students a chance to succeed while still welcoming students who are very much ready for four-year institutions but feel like this is the best place for them to start.
The future president of the college has gained plenty of experience throughout her years at Parkland. Lau started out as a part-time faculty member in 1995. She started teaching in the developmental reading program before going on to be the director of the program in 2003. She played a crucial part in the development of CAS, which launched in 2006. In 2010, Lau was promoted to dean of academic services and was further promoted to the vice president for academic services in 2016.
“At the end of the day, if students don’t find that this is a good experience, we have not succeeded as a college”
Lau believes that her experience will serve her well when she takes over the title as president in 2023. Having gotten to be in both the classroom and serving as a program director, she has a grasp on what is going on and what it is that students will need to become successful. “At the end of the day, if students don’t find that this is a good experience, we have not succeeded as a college,” Lau said.
As for the transition plan, Lau describes the plan as consisting of two levels. Lau will be moving into the executive vice president position where she is going to learn how Ramage runs the college.
However, there is also the level of her finding someone to take over the title as chief academic officer. This process will include looking for an associate vice president who will begin to learn from Lau.
Lau shared that the college has chosen to do the transition slowly but planned in order to ensure that everything will go smoothly. This is important as both positions affect a large part of the college.
As for the Board of Trustees voting, there was no doubt that Lau should be the one taking over the presidency. After the voting, most of the board took time to comment on Lau’s qualifications as well as how good of a job Dr. Ramage has done throughout the years with his “innovative leadership.”
“It made sense through our discussion and conversations with Dr. Lau that her leadership, skills, and trust among the faculty, staff, and others in the community was a logical continuation of [Ramage’s] leadership,” board member Gregory Knott commented.
As for other things discussed during the meeting a $126,840 funding was approved for renovation of the S building as well as a $2.2 million use of the protection, health, and safety funds for a new automated door lock upgrade across campus.
For more information on what was discussed and approved during the meeting, check out the Parkland College press release.
