REMEMBERING DR. CAROLYN G. WILLIAMS: Nancy Ritze, Dean of Institutional Research
When Carolyn Williams became President of BCC in 1996, the College was struggling with many challenges (declining enrollment, limited fiscal resources, poor student outcomes and low morale among faculty and staff). President Williams brought optimism and energy to the College. So much of what is now part of the fabric of BCC resulted from her efforts. She said that she was attracted to BCC because of its illustrious past and its future promise. President Williams guided the college accordingly.
President Williams focused on BCC students. At her installation in 1997, she said “The only accurate measure of our success is the success of our students. They are the beneficiaries of our every activity – from budget balancing to curriculum planning, from building renovation to administrative organization. In our every undertaking, it is the students’ interests we must consider first and last. Their needs must light our way, and their success will carry our torch.”
She lived up to this promise by creating positive experiences for BCC students. These experiences included: what they learned (such as a strong liberal education with a global perspective); where they learned (in a new state-of-the art library and classroom building, a renovated student center and their children in an on-site child care center); how they learned (with a focus on hiring excellent faculty and supporting effective pedagogy and scholarship); and an emphasis on the support structures students needed to ensure academic success.
Carolyn Williams was an inspired and compassionate leader and a much valued friend.