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Altieri Enjoying Position as HCC President By Jessica Davis, TheWorldJournal.com 
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PRINT VERSIONDr. Guy Altieri knows that he is in charge of a higher education institution steeped in tradition, but he also sees the need to apply those traditions while implementing new ways to accomplish tasks. Altieri, the president of Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, Md., is only the third president since HCC was established in 1946. He succeeded retiring president, Dr. Norman Shea in July of 2002, after transferring from Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was employed for 15 years. The biggest difference between WCC and HCC, Altieri says, is the size, both of the number of students and the budget. "Washentaw is unique because the Ann Arbor area has more college students than students in K through 12," he said. "The budget for WCC was close to 80 million dollars while HCC has about 21 million dollars to work with each year." Altieri said he found the open presidential position through higher education community publications that publish job opportunities. He and his wife are from the east coast so the move to Hagerstown was a sort of homecoming for them, he said. Since taking office, Altieri has enjoyed getting to know the faculty and staff of a smaller community. He estimates that between 75 and 80 percent of the HCC staff are "single college employees," meaning that they have not had work experience at any other college. Altieri is quite familiar with the structure of higher education; besides holding three master's degrees in adult education, community college teaching, and clinical psychology, a bachelor's degree in sociology, and a doctorate in higher education, he has visited between 200 and 250 different college campuses. Altieri wants to bring his experience and knowledge of higher learning to HCC by blending what he calls "vision and memory." "The biggest change I have seen since my arrival is in the attitudes in regard to practices of the past," Altieri said. "There are many long-standing traditions at HCC that work well but I try to challenge the staff to think in new ways that may be more successful." Altieri's short-term goals for HCC include continuing to get acquainted with the college and community and "getting resources aligned with priorities". In the distant future, he hopes to set up a more effective planning and assessment system while maintaining the continuous standard of quality that is associated with HCC, he said. Altieri's enthusiasm for school involvement is evident to HCC Student Government Secretary Meghan Luttrell. "Dr. Altieri has been very eager to get involved with student life this year. The experience he has brought from other schools is invaluable and he is in the process of building a foundation for the relationships that he needs to preserve over the next few years," Luttrell said. Linda Henesy, a professor of nursing at HCC, was impressed with Altieri's "open door" policy to leadership style. She felt comfortable approaching him with any concerns or questions. "I also had the pleasure of working with him on a taskforce to implement his 'vision of shared governance' style of management," Henesy said. "He believes that all HCC employees should participate in decision making and direction. To me, that is a sign of a good president." © April 4, 2003 |
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