By Courtney Elisech
Meet Delta College’s new president, Dr. Michael Gavin! President Gavin talks to this journalism student about the first few months on the job and in Michigan, his new book, and goals.
Dr. Michael H. Gavin has been president of Delta College since July and describes his first 90 days as a time of feeling excited, welcomed, and supported.
Former President Jean Goodnow worked with Gavin during his first month, a revealing and supportive experience he said never happened in his career. It was an opportunity to observe and develop his thoughts, like being an anthropologist, Gavin said.
Gavin has over 20 years of experience in community college administration, most recently he worked at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland as the Vice President of Learning. Limited face-to-face contact made leaving this role difficult to find closure. To those he had worked with for the last seven years, he said farewell remotely, but saying goodbye over Zoom is not the best. Transitioning to a higher level of power during the pandemic was interesting. There was a lot of excitement as well as drawbacks.
“I’m walking the halls (of Delta College) and the amount of faculty on campus is far and few between as they work from home; a lot of students are here but I’d like to run into the faculty more.”
Gavin has never seen a time where educational institutions transform the way work is completed in an intentional way for the future. The pandemic has paved the way for technology to change how education is provided and delivered to students. There have also been many scholarships and funding for different aspects of higher education during the pandemic that Gavin hopes will continue.
Gavin has an impressive list of priorities and goals for his first year:
- Develop a culture of belonging for students and employees so everyone feels like the campus is their second home.
- Establish and maintain a good working relationship with as many people as possible both on campus and in the community.
- Focus on completion and equity.
- Establish a framework to help and support students complete or continue their degree.
- Lay foundation to prevent opportunity gaps in different races, genders, and socioeconomic status.
Racial equality in higher education is so important to Gavin that he wrote a book about it. The New White Nationalism in Politics and Higher Education: The Nostalgia Spectrum was published June 2021.
“Basically, it suggests that America’s history of marginalizing non-white people, both geographically and politically, from white people replicates itself over and over. At the current moment, it is exasperated significantly as a result of policy; and the people who are most in charge of that are wearing suits and ties but are carrying out the same exact mantras word for word of white supremacist organizations. But they are not fitting the stereotype. If we don’t resist this kind of rhetoric and thinking it will have a significant impact on the long-term future of America.”
When asked what his inspiration for the book was, Gavin said, “I was very disturbed, let’s put it that way. I was disturbed about the way national discourse about race was taking shape. I was concerned at the time, and it actually played out the way I was concerned about. That we would see an increase of white nationalism impinging itself on college campuses.”
A prime motivating factor to write the book was the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. According to an article from PBS News Room, hundreds of white supremacists protested the removal of Confederate monuments. The president at the time sympathized and gave these groups support. This weekend began with a march on the University of Virginia’s campus and ended in death and devastation.
“I was concerned that there was a point when curriculum at college campuses would try to be managed in such a way that it would be problematic for a significant amount of disciplines,” Gavin said.
Writing for the book began in 2018 and finished in 2019, but the pandemic delayed publication for over a year. In that time many historical events transpired such as the covid pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the insurrection at the US Capital in January 2021. Gavin incorporated these major events in his book before publishing. The target audience he had in mind when writing is those in academia such as administrators and graduate-level students from different disciplines.
In an article by Denyse Shannon, she quotes Gavin “you don’t have a desire to change things but rather maintain the focus on longer-term goals for our students.” When asked if he had specific plans to make that happen, the answer was “a lot, a lot of plans.”
- Increase (degree) completion without any equity gaps.
- Focus on where are students are in terms of courses and programs.
- Surround courses that are most highly enrolled, usually the-year classes, with as much support services as possible to retain students from one semester to the next and to the next year.
- Develop a framework to look at data institutionally as a guide on where to improve, this process is already in construction. The institutional research office will provide such data to offices that need it to affect change in terms of equity and completion. Specifically for faculty as well as for different offices: “what have we learned during the pandemic that we need to keep?” That information is already being gathered in order to purchase equipment so that faculty can excel in the classroom in a remote environment.
- Gavin believes Delta can serve students better: “We serve rural and urban environments at Delta, so if we can reduce the travel time or expense for people through technology, can technology be a bridge for long term goals? Even (change the way we) think about the way that courses are scheduled, especially in labs and skilled trades. A student might need to come just one time a week versus three if we can deliver the lecture remotely.”
- Ensure that we have enough support for students, that they know about. There is a lot of student support from food pantries to tutoring, but people are busy. “How can we shape this experience so that all students can have access to support? We don’t want life to get in the way of education.”
Gavin’s family has enjoyed the time they’ve spent in Michigan so far, the weather has been great as it has been comparable to Maryland. His family includes his wife, Alycia, and their three daughters Isabelle, 15; Maya, 9; and Ava, 5. They have spent a good deal of time outdoors locally, as well as some time on the western side of the state at nature preserves. Grand Rapids is a hot spot for Alycia, Gavin’s wife, as she is very interested in interior design.
Despite being a bit homesick for his favorite burger places and the only sushi place he liked; Gavin is stoked to be leading Delta College during this historic time. “I’m excited to be here and excited for the work we’ll do together, and I look forward to more focus on students.”
