Keynaya Thompson
Managing Editor
In October of 2023, Broward College found itself looking for a new college president. Dr. Barbara J. Bryan who had the college-wide district registrar, associate vice president of student services, academic dean, business dean, provost, campus president, and vice president of strategic initiatives on her resume would assume this position shortly after, making her the first woman to do so. At the start of the Spring 2024 semester, The Observer’s Managing Editor Keynaya Thompson spoke with Dr. Bryan about her new position, student engagement and the future of college education with AI.
K.T.: It’s really an honor to be speaking with you, not only as the new president but you are the first woman president so it is just great to see that type of representation here at Broward College, which leads me to my first question: as president, how will you involve the diverse student body in decision making processes, which will promote student engagement and representation on all campuses?
Dr. B.B.: Our student board of trustee participants rotates from the student government officers. No one student is usually able to make it to those board meetings and represent the entire student body. So, what they’ve changed, and I endorse is a rotation. If you’re a student government leader on South you may attend the board meeting representing the student body and, if you’re on North then they may attend the meeting to represent the student body. So, you will always have a student board of trustee representing you all at those decision-making levels, which is crucial.
In terms of student engagement, I think the college has done a really good job making sure that there are safe spaces that students have an ombudsman to go to if they have issues. My cabinet, we’re very active in participating directly with the students. We move our staff meetings around to all the campuses. I have an open-door policy. Students reach out to me, and I respond.
One of the things I’m really proud of is how we involved the students in the holiday cards. What I started when I was on North Campus was engaging the faculty with the art students. We ran a contest, and they submitted their work, and we were going to just choose one student. They were so great we created a box set like Hallmark of the student’s artwork and sent those to 4,000 employees.
KT: Broward College does a really great job with helping students get their work out there. With events like Springfest, I did that my first semester as a writer, and I was able to add that to the resume. Also with the Observer, I can add all the articles I’ve written to my portfolio. The college does a great job at helping students not only with engagement on campus but towards their future.
Dr. B.B.: Good, I’m glad to hear that. For me, I have a long history of being a student-centered leader. That has not changed. The reason we are here is because you all are here and that is my motto.
K.T.: You spoke about your previous years here at college as campus president. How has that experience prepared you for the position you now have as the College president and unique challenges and opportunities that you will come across with this leadership role?
Dr. B.B.: Preparation starts long before you get the big jobs and the big titles. So, for me and the message I really want to clearly convey to students is that nothing substitutes for preparation and then experience. On North Campus I was Provost and President, but when I took over that campus, I did not have an academic dean or a business dean. I performed all of those duties: business dean, academic dean, provost and then they changed the title to campus president. But I saw an opportunity to make sure I had experiences across the entire spectrum, so I did all those jobs.
The other big piece is building relationships. Leaders are not successful if they do not have strong successful relationships with all the stakeholders. That includes the students, the faculty, the union, the faculty senate. I also started out as a very young leader at a different college, and I taught all of those orientation classes that prepares students. Nothing substitutes for rolling up your sleeves, learning your craft, being an expert and then if you’re lucky or divinely blessed, opportunities show up and you’re prepared to take advantage of them. As a female, I knew that I had to have all the credentials, all the degrees. I, in fact, have four degrees: a Bachelors, a Masters, an EDS. I never stopped even after having children and I earned my PhD.
K.T.: Broward College is kind of like a steppingstone for students as far as their college careers and then their future so decisions they make here as students can prepare them for what their next steps are.
Dr. B.B.: Absolutely, it is the beginning of the journey. It’s a long runway and the pathway should be clear for our students at Broward College. There is not one single individual who is successful on their own. There is a governing body of the institution I report to; five trustees that are appointed by the governor. They’re really community leaders who are volunteers and there are lots of opportunities for that governing body to support and help our students as well. I’m saddened when our students don’t take advantage of all the things that are available to them because they may not know. When I got back, there were all these kiosks on campus, and I said run those signs telling the students about free tutoring because I worked with the student alert system and the number of students who told me that they didn’t know we had free tutoring and were trying to find tutors really saddened me. So, that was one of the first things I did when I toured all the campuses again. I said “Listen, run that free tutoring everywhere.”
K.T.: BC has so many resources and departments that promote student. BC has made it clear that Student Success is a top priority, not only as a college, but you as president. Are you able to share any new initiatives or goals you plan to implement that will further support Student Success?
Dr. B.B.: I actually have a brand new strategic imperative that we have been working on as a team, the entire cabinet. And if you will give me grace and someone comes to the February B.O.T. meeting, I’m going to roll that new strategic imperative out. I can’t share it now because the board has yet to hear about it. But it is another effort to increase access. How it relates to student success is that it will not be a one-shot thing.
K.T.: My final question is kind of a hot topic. I’ve spoken with numerous professors about this and even written an article on this. In the new decade, education and the system of education has been transforming in response to the advancements of technology. From post-pandemic students preferring to be fully online to the dominance of AI assistance, I know there have been multiple initiatives in response to AI at BC and in colleges nationwide. Do you have any plans that will lead the college in further adapting to the changes in a way that will prepare students for challenges they may encounter in college and in their future careers due to technology advancements?
Dr. B.B.: Yes. First of all, it is critically important that we don’t do what we, as a profession, and we, as a society, have done before and that is to focus on all the ways it can be a bad thing for us. I am in a couple of thought leader groups and part of the statewide council of college presidents and those discussions are going around statewide and nationally. I’ve taken the opportunity to work directly with a professor who is so excited about this. Professor Richard McCawley has taken a leadership role in making sure he’s informing the other faculty and running workshops. The faculty has already retooled through professional development and incorporated AI to their curriculum.
