GTCC President Wins Major Award
Dr. Randy Parker, president of Guilford Technical Community College, has been named recipient of the I. E. Ready Distinguished Leader Award for 2012, which is presented by the College of Education at N.C. State University.
The award will be presented May 16 at the N. C. University Club on the Centennial Campus in Raleigh.
“Randy Parker’s significant record of leadership on the local, state and national levels contributed to his selection as the president of GTCC,” said Coy O. Williard Jr. of High Point, chairman of the GTCC Board of Trustees.
“His energy, foresight and leadership skills already have established him as an understanding, committed leader in Guilford County. As chair of the Board of Trustees, I am honored to congratulate Dr. Parker on behalf of the students faculty, staff and Board of GTCC,” Williard said.
The award was established in memory of Ready, the first president of the N.C. Community College System, and is presented annually to a leader who has rendered distinguished service in the community college sector. The recipient is recognized for “innovation in the community college system and for the impact a single motivated leader can exert on the regional community in support of the initiatives of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Adult and Higher Education at North Carolina State University.”
Parker was cited for his leadership during the completion of his doctoral program with the NCSU faculty and for his accomplishments at Vance-Granville Community College. He was commended for creating innovative curricular pathways in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curricula and establishing partnerships with UNC institutions in the Engineering, Math and Science curricula
The awards committee noted the collaborative partnership he formed with the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Science Foundation to offer the nation’s first AAS Degree in Global Logistics Technology. The committee acknowledged Parker’s leadership to revise the FTE (Full Time Equivalency) formula that funds the community college system.
Parker was a prime leader in creating and expanding the early college high school programs through a crucial partnership with K-12 schools. Three of these programs are housed on GTCC campuses in Jamestown, High Point and Greensboro.
Since becoming president of GTCC in September 2011, Parker has worked to engage young adults to seek out and participate in higher education. He is presently presiding over the Gates Foundation Development Education Initiative (DEI) that targets developmental education at GTCC and the institution’s leadership of the Completion by Design (CPD) initiative that is funded by the state and the Gates Foundation.
“These major initiatives are significant institutional commitments which will provide stronger support environments and powerful pathways to keep at-risk community college students enrolled and motivated to graduate from community colleges,” Williard said.
Parker has moved quickly to assume a major role in the community by becoming chair of the 2013 March of Dimes campaign and assuming leadership roles in the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance and the High Point Chamber of Commerce Leadership Council, Williard said.
