Boston, MA — A member of the North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Board of Trustees has been named Chair of the American Association of Community College Trustees.
Jean Torgeson, a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant from Manly, Iowa has served as a volunteer member of the NIACC Board of Directors since 2001. She has served as Chair Elect for the ACCT board for the past year and was inducted as Chair during the association’s national conference last week in Boston, MA.
“Having a NIACC board member in this national role is a tremendous asset for the College, for the people of North Iowa and especially for our students,” said NIACC President Dr. Debra Derr.
“One of Jean’s top priorities is making sure we keep the national focus on the need for the skilled workers that our employers so desperately need,” Derr said.
“I am so honored to serve as President of this amazing organization,” Torgeson said. “One of topics I will continue to talk about on the national level is the fact that we have a critical skills gap in America today. Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges will play a pivotal role in preparing students for the workforce of today and into the future. We are the gateway to a living wage.
We all know that minimum wage is not a living wage.”
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern more than 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States and beyond.
These community professionals, business officials, public policy leaders, and leading citizens offer their time and talent to serve on the governing boards of this century’s most innovative higher education institutions-community, junior, and technical colleges-and make decisions that affect more than 1,200 colleges and over 11 million students annually.
