AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin’s National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) has hired nationally acclaimed author, speaker and technology strategist Dr. Mark Milliron as director. NISOD is the education outreach arm of the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) in the College of Education.
Milliron joins NISOD on Aug. 1, after holding the position of Vice President of Education and Medical Practice at SAS, the largest privately held software company in the world. Previously, he was president and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College, executive director of Global Learning Initiatives at Oracle and Vice President for Academic and Student Services at Mayland Community College. Milliron received his doctorate in education leadership from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Kellogg Senior Research Fellow.
“Mark is well-known in the education community for his groundbreaking work in the areas of teaching, learning, leadership and the human side of technology change,” says Dr. Manuel J. Justiz, dean of the College of Education. “He brings a passion, purpose and impressive scope to his work that will greatly benefit our students here in the college and positively affect education at both the state and national levels. He’s been a friend of the college for quite some time, is a graduate of the CCLP, and in 1999, in fact, he was named a distinguished graduate of the College of Education.”
In addition to being NISOD director, Milliron also will serve as the first Suanne Davis Roueche Endowed NISOD Fellow. Milliron has forged strong ties to the CCLP and NISOD over the past decade that include collaboration with CCLP director Dr. John E. Rouech and former NISOD director Dr. Suanne Roueche on numerous projects, grants and two major national studies. In one published study, they examined the efficacy of part-time faculty at community colleges and in another they studied thousands of award-winning community college instructors.
“The directorship of NISOD is one of the most visible jobs in the community college world,” says Dr. John Roueche, “and we’re thrilled to have someone with Mark’s expertise step in as leader. He’s a prolific author and a much sought-after speaker—he brings talents, especially in the area of technology development, that will complement our initiatives and help us advance to the next level.”
The nearly 30-year-old NISOD has grown to include more than 500 member community colleges around the world and distributes 50 professional development publications a year to faculty and staff. The publications include teaching tips, trends in improving student success, reports on the latest research and recognition of successful teachers and programs. In addition to offering training, Web resources, award programs and informational publications, NISOD also hosts a large conference each May, attracting representatives from community colleges worldwide.
The CCLP is the nation’s oldest graduate program for the preparation of leaders of community colleges and has graduated more deans and college presidents than any other similar program.
For more information contact: Kay Randall, College of Education, 512-232-3910.
