Dan Phelan, president of Jackson College and chair-elect of the AACC board of directors, prepares to speak before a U.S. Senate committee on behalf of AACC. (Photo courtesy: Matthew Dembicki)
Dr. Daniel J. Phelan, president of Jackson College, will serve as chair of the American Association of Community College Board of Directors starting in July.
Phelan has served on the AACC Board of Directors since 2013, and also served from 2003-06. AACC is a national organization representing nearly 1,200 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions, a national “voice for community colleges.” It is governed by a 32-member board of directors elected by the membership.
Phelan has served as president of JC since 2001. Active at the local, regional and national levels, Phelan served on the AACC’s Presidential Advisory Council on China, the AACC Audit and Finance Committee, and is Chair of the Commission on Communications and Marketing. He served on the blue ribbon 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges on the Implementation Steering Committee. He is a past president of the Continuous Quality Improvement Network (CQIN). He is also on the Board of Directors for the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE). In addition, he serves as a board member of the Enterprise Group of Jackson, Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors, and the board of the Lenawee Economic Development Corporation. He is active in the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Higher Learning Commission Consultant/Evaluator Corps.
Phelan, often an invited speaker and consultant, has also written numerous articles, white papers related to the field of community colleges and higher education. He has written a new book, “Unrelenting Change, Innovation, and Risk: Forging the Next Generation of Colleges,” published in January 2016 by Rowman and Littlefield, as part of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leadership series.