Terry O’Banion: An Idea Champion Directs Walden’s Community College Leadership Program

“Community colleges are America’s affordable colleges in everyone’s backyard,” says Terry O’Banion, director of Walden’s Community College Leadership program and former president of the League for Innovation in the Community College. “They provide a second chance for students who never dreamed of attending college, and they require strong leaders who can help students navigate through the social and economic challenges of the 21st century.”

 

May 2008

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Dr. Terry O’Banion

 

Terry O’Banion was just 25 years old in 1960 when he was named dean of students at Central Florida Junior College in Ocala, Fla. He entered higher education administration at a time of tremendous growth for both four-year institutions and community colleges. From that first administrative position, O’Banion and his mentor, then president of Central Florida, moved to Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla., where they created “a learning college for the 20th century.”

 

“We used our core values regarding human nature and education processes in developing our ideas about what a learning college should be,” says O’Banion. At Santa Fe, learning communities were formed, courses were designed around behavioral objectives, and faculty were encouraged to identify opportunities for active and collaborative learning—all relatively novel ideas at the time.

 

Recognizing his growing reputation, the University of Illinois turned to O’Banion to jump-start its new higher education program with a specialization in the community college. After seven years at Illinois, O’Banion gave up a full professorship and lifetime tenure to head west to Phoenix, Ariz., where he assumed the presidency of the League for Innovation in the Community College, a position he would hold for more than two decades.

 

The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development cited O’Banion as a model of “a leader who dreams big dreams and can put them into practice.” Living up to the ideals of Walden’s “scholar-practitioner,” he was recognized by the university in 2005 with an honorary doctorate for his leadership. O’Banion has also served as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin and visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Florida State University, University of Hawaii, and University of Toronto.

 

O’Banion’s vision for creating optimal learning environments has earned him accolades for more than 40 years. Under his leadership, the League for Innovation became an international organization serving more than 650 colleges and it was recognized by Change magazine as "the most dynamic organization in the community college world." In a Change survey of 11,000 higher education leaders nearly a decade ago, O'Banion was named one of 11 "idea champions" who set the agenda for all of higher education, and he was the only community college leader on the list. He has shared his inspirational ideas as a consultant to more than 800 community colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Following his retirement from the League, it did not take O’Banion long to return to work, running Walden’s Community College Leadership program, which he describes as a good match for his expertise. He has utilized his extensive higher education network to orchestrate the creation of the program and recruit faculty and students. “The opportunity to work with great colleagues to create this new venture in leadership makes my creative juices flow,” O’Banion says. “We brought together the most outstanding community college leaders in the nation to develop the most substantive program of its kind.”

 

O’Banion is particularly excited about the Community College Leadership program because it espouses the concept he promoted in his 1997 book A Learning College for the 21st Century. “The KAM (Knowledge Area Module) framework is an innovative model of learning-centered education and makes the Community College Leadership program the most learning-centered Ph.D. in existence today,” he says.

 

Looking back at his stellar career, which has included writing 12 books and 150 articles on the community college, O'Banion considers the three national awards named in his honor the greatest evidence of his accomplishments. They include: the Terry O'Banion Student Technology Award created by Microsoft, the Terry O'Banion Prize for Teaching and Learning created by Public Broadcasting Systems, and the Terry O'Banion Shared Journey Award created by the National Council on Student Development.

 

Throughout his career, O’Banion has not forgotten the guidance and advice of extraordinary mentors. “My high school teachers, my college teachers, my professional colleagues—I have benefited from mentors my whole adult life.”

 

Today, O’Banion mentors four students in the Community College Leadership program and continues to share his vision with aspiring community college leaders. “Community colleges are America’s affordable colleges in everyone’s backyard. They provide a second chance for students who never dreamed of attending college, and they require strong leaders who can help students navigate through the social and economic challenges of the 21st century. Walden’s Community College Leadership program will play a major role in preparing leaders for these challenges.”

 

Dr. Terry O'Banion (second from left) with students at a League for Innovation conference.

 

 

 

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