Reflections on a Decade at Anoka-Ramsey from President Kent Hanson

February 22, 2023

The 2023-2024 academic year will be Anoka-Ramsey Community College President Kent Hanson’s tenth in that role, leading both Anoka-Ramsey and its aligned institution Anoka Technical College.

In that decade, Anoka-Ramsey has evolved. It received national recognition for its excellence, strengthened partnerships with surrounding communities and, through legislative support and investment and transformed physical spaces to support students’ evolving needs. Like all organizations, Anoka-Ramsey has also navigated significant shifts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and continues its critical work of bringing equity and inclusion into all facets of the college and its work.

Recently, President Hanson sat down to reflect on the past ten years and to look at what may be ahead for Anoka-Ramsey.

Q: Reflecting on the last decade at Anoka-Ramsey, are there moments or memories that stand out as highlights?

A: One moment that really was a highlight was Anoka-Ramsey being named one of the Aspen Institute’s Top 10 Community Colleges in the country. That’s really quite an honor. It’s not something I did alone, it’s something we all did together. I think it represents the quality of college we have here with our collaborative environment and how we work together.

One thing I’m most proud of would be our results on the PACE survey. It’s a measure of our culture and climate as compared to other institutions. When I got here, we were in the 15th percentile. Three years later, we were in the 85th. Again, that’s something we worked on together. We worked to make sure folks have a say in the direction of the college and they feel comfortable working here and giving their opinions.

Another accomplishment, and challenge, is the (completion of renovations to the) Business and Nursing building on the (Coon) Rapids Campus. That was on the books for years before I got here, they were working on that. We had to go back to the drawing board a number of times in that was a seven-year process. We finally dialed in the right approach that got the state funding.

Our partnerships with our local school districts are amazing. We have such great relationships, working through our PSEO and Concurrent Enrollment programs. We’ve saved students and families $7 million in tuition and fees. That’s a pretty big accomplishment. We’ve continued to grow concurrent enrollment and PSEO populations. You don’t just do that by happenstance. That takes hard work and building relationships and working together.

Q: How have you seen students and their needs change over the last ten years?

A: Our student population is getting more diverse. That’s one obvious difference. We’re certainly going to be more diverse as we move forward. That’s a great to have our students learn from each other’s experiences and backgrounds and it really contributes to the overall health of the institution.

I think students are coming to us today with a lot more going on. Even more so than ten years ago, there is a lot more going on in their lives. We’re seeing more issues with mental health, food insecurity, things like that.

We are all different, based on the pandemic. All of us have shifted the fabric of how we do business and how we learn and how we teach. It’s going to take a while for that to land at the new normal. The pandemic has really impacted all of us.

Q: How did Anoka-Ramsey navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic? What was unique about management here and are there lessons you’re taking away from that experience?

A: I think the pandemic – and this is how I’ve changed over the years, too – has left us much more willing to deal with ambiguity. There were no real right answers throughout that whole situation. There’s no way to learn how to lead through the pandemic. There’s no schooling that you can take. It certainly wasn’t taught in my Ph.D. classes.

All in all, I’m proud. We’ve kept people safe. We’ve stayed open. We’ve learned to be flexible with our employees, not that we weren’t before, but we’re going to continue to have liberal telework as long as we can serve our students on campus and employees can work from home some too. One thing we found during this whole pandemic is actually students are getting served better via Zoom and online because they don’t have to be on campus and they can be more flexible in reaching out. We feel like our approach has really been broadened. I’m really proud of our approach to the pandemic.

Q: As you look forward what are you most excited about for Anoka-Ramsey?

A: Continuing to enhance our partnerships, doing the great work that we do. Embarking on a new strategic plan. Figuring out what Anoka-Ramsey looks like in a post-pandemic world. I think it’s exciting, it’s a little challenging but I think that’s really exciting. There are more opportunities to enhance our facilities.

I think there’s more opportunities with the alignment (of Anoka-Ramsey and Anoka Technical College). I think as we move forward, figuring out that balance a little bit better between Anoka-Ramsey and Anoka Tech while still protecting their missions. We’ve got great leadership at both institutions, and I think that’s one thing that can be exciting for us.

Continuing our work with music, theater, sports, providing more avenues for engagement. Our work on diversity, equity and inclusion is exciting to me. That’s going to be moving to the forefront of our work moving forward.

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This feature appeared in the Winter 2023 Anoka-Ramsey Community Newsletter. View a full PDF version of this story and additional pieces.