On May 1, 2017, his first day at the helm of City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), Chancellor Juan Salgado introduced his vision for building upon CCC’s student-centered community college system and announced interim college presidents at Truman College and Olive-Harvey College, part of a leadership team which will focus on improving student outcomes and the student experience while overcoming challenges posed by an unprecedented state budget crisis. “We are in unchartered waters in higher education in Illinois, facing never before seen state resource constraints, and yet, we must ensure these harsh realities don’t dampen our students’ futures, so that they continue to succeed at record rates, and have an exceptional experience at City Colleges that prepares them to reach their college and career goals,” said Chancellor Salgado. “My non-profit background has trained me to bring people together to seek creative solutions to hard problems,” continued Chancellor Salgado, “and I will rely on this experience as we engage faculty, students, staff, four-year colleges, employers, the community, and our elected officials to ensure our students and communities are connected to economic opportunity.” Informed by preliminary listening sessions with key stakeholders inside the colleges and out, Chancellor Salgado outlined the following initial priorities aimed at supporting City Colleges students’ success:

• Creating a superior student experience by building upon CCC’s student-centered culture and fostering positive relationships from a student’s first contact with CCC to graduation and beyond
• Forging meaningful partnerships with communities, employers, 4-year colleges, and other partners to provide support and resources for CCC students and ensure any Chicagoans seeking a quality, affordable post-secondary education can access one, and
• Building upon a data-driven culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence to best utilize institutional resources to further student success

To realize these goals, Chancellor Salgado announced plans to establish teams focused on enhancing the student experience and bolstering student enrollment, as well as strategic outreach to address the funding crisis that has stalled the construction of a Transportation, Distribution, Logistics Center at Olive-Harvey College and threatens the system’s track record of financial health and academic gains. Registration is currently open for summer and fall classes at City Colleges. For more information or to register, prospective students are encouraged to go online at www.ccc.edu or call 773-COLLEGE.