Tom Snyder retired from the presidency of Ivy Tech, Indiana’s only public community college, in 2016. He led the statewide institution for nine years, seeing it grow in enrollment and scope. Snyder was an outsider to higher education when he took the position. Before he was chairman/CEO of Delco Remy, an automotive parts supplier, and a civic leader and booster.
As he left the Ivy Tech presidency, Snyder wrote a short book, The Community College Solution. A collection of speeches, blog posts, and other short addresses, the book paints an unambiguously rosy and positive picture of community colleges and Ivy Tech. It is organized into five sections: The Community College at Its Core (which looks at the overall mission of community colleges), Community Colleges Help People Succeed (opportunities and success stories), Helping America’s Employers (the skills gap – with a focus on manufacturing, aviation and tech), A Foundation for Higher Education (student transfer), and Community Colleges and the Economy (community colleges are a great investment for individuals and communities). Snyder is an unabashed champion of Ivy Tech and community college education. This book reads something akin to an in-depth promotional piece. It is sincere and short.
Snyder does not write much about himself, the unusual nature and structure of Ivy Tech, and the organizational and political challenges he wrestled with as president. He does not talk about missed opportunities; nor does he express frustration or regrets. I would have welcomed more about him as a leader, as a newcomer to higher education, and how his thinking and leadership changed over his lengthy tenure at the statewide institution.
The Community College Solution would have been stronger – more effectively persuasive – if Snyder had written more authentically about the challenges that community colleges and their students face. Community colleges are consistently asked to do more with fewer resources. Community college students are in the same boat. They are more likely to be first generation in college, to come from less wealth and to have fewer options and opportunities. Student success rates at community colleges are low. There are many good reasons for this – and it is an issue that is best acknowledged and shared so that it can be addressed.
The more that community colleges share – successes, failures, warts, and all – the more effective community colleges can be with their communities and the public at large.
David Potash