Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Let’s Talk! With Dr. Adrienne Bennings, PCC College President

Student Advocates | Start the discussion

Hosted and produced by Carrie Cantrell. Produced and edited by Carrie Cantrell. Transcriptions authored by Heath Brehl. Carrie interviews Dr B with questions from the disabled student body.

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify.

Transcript

Carrie Cantrell: Hello. My name is Carrie Cantrell, thank you for tuning in to this episode of “Let’s Talk.” “Let’s Talk” is a podcast produced by students at PCC and it is about perspectives of disability culture, from the perspectives of students experiencing disabilities. We are really excited to bring you this next piece of programming. It is a one-on-one interview with Doctor Bennings herself, the college president who is about eight months into her first term as president of Portland Community College. We talk about her plans, her ideologies and also a little bit about her history. So please buckle up, this is a great conversation full of lots of juicy tidbits. I do want to put a little bit of a trigger warning out there, we go over some mental health issues, including; suicide, and also clinical depression, addiction, things like this. So if you’re sensitive and you are not in the mood today to digest this type of content, maybe save this episode for another time. But for those of you who are ready and willing, please enjoy this episode of Let’s Talk.

Dr. Bennings: Carrie?

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah, hi!

Dr. Bennings: How are you doing?

Carrie Cantrell: So good. How are you doing?

Dr. Bennings: Good to see you again.

Carrie Cantrell: Nice to see you too.

Dr. Bennings: So I was talking to Kaela Parks, is this the podcast piece?

Carrie Cantrell: This is the podcast.

Carrie Cantrell: How was your meeting with Kaela today?

Dr. Bennings: So it was perfect timing.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah.

Dr. Bennings: Because I was like, okay, I’m meeting with Carrie today because I said your orientation is perfect. Because I don’t know much about the disability piece here at PCC. What do you call the division? Accessibility?

Carrie Cantrell: Accessible Ed and Disability Resources.

Dr. Bennings: Accessible Ed and Disability. And then I was like, I also, I don’t know what landmines to step on. And not, you know, in terms of like, there’s verbiage. There’s language that’s changed over the years.

Carrie Cantrell: So true.

Dr. Bennings: And so that’s what I mean in terms of landmines. So, do you call it a disability advocate?

Carrie Cantrell: I refer to myself as a student advocate.

Dr. Bennings: Okay.

Carrie Cantrell: Because, you know, one of the things that we talk about in the department is that, you know, any student, anyone can experience a disability at any point. So that’s how I refer to myself.

Dr. Bennings: I love it.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah.

Dr. Bennings: And it makes sense. Because like, I was in her presentation, she said sometimes like, oh, yeah, I had a disability. Like, I’ve had surgeries, I’ve had periods of time where I was ill. And, you know, our mental nature is sometimes you don’t make that alignment. But anyway, so I learned something new today. So this is all good.

Carrie Cantrell: It’s part of our how our society is built. What I’m learning from working with Kaela, like people resist the identity of being disabled and don’t know how to experience it.

Dr. Bennings: Yeah.

Carrie Cantrell: So yeah. So Doctor B, thank you so much for joining us in conversation for a podcast called Let’s Talk. I know a lot of students who are very excited about getting to know you a little bit more and I’m really grateful to share their questions with you. It’s been an open-source process to see what the students want to know from you. But maybe I thought it would be fun to get started by asking you just a little bit about yourself. We’d love to know if you have any pets, plants, hobbies. What’s your family like, if you have siblings? And what are your favorite art forms? Just any of those topics.

Dr. Bennings: Any of those?

Carrie Cantrell: Any of those just it’s a free fall.

Dr. Bennings: I love that it’s open-ended and will let me flow in any direction.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah, get cozy we’d like to know you.

Dr. Bennings: I’m not going to speak about the presidency. We all, you know, y’all know what comes with that. But I am, you know, from West Texas.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Dr. Bennings: I’m a Texas girl at heart, I have lots of family in Texas. But I have two children and my daughter’s name is Tekoa and she’s twenty-one. And my son’s name is Christian and he’s twenty-five. And so I’m married, I’ve been married, oh my gosh, I told my husband I said we’re almost getting ready to be a whole teenager, whole adult, because we will be married seventeen years in May.

Carrie Cantrell: Oh my god.

Dr. Bennings: And I’m like, has time flown by. And so in another life, I wanted to be a veterinarian. And I always, I love animals. And I’m glad that you asked about animals because a bittersweet moment that I want to share. I haven’t shared it widely is that two weekends ago, I had to put my one of my fur babies to sleep and she, she’s just so precious. Her name is Kaya. And Kaya I’ve had, she’s my fur baby, I’ve had her the longest my whole life, my whole adulthood in terms of owning or having a pet family member. So she was twelve. But, yeah, I came back from Washington DC and she was breathing funny. And so I was like, you know, I’m gonna take her to the hospital, you know, because they’re your babies, right?

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah.

Dr. Bennings: And I did not leave the hospital with her. And then just yesterday, they called me and said that her clay paw print that they had made, was ready and I went and picked it up. And so I love my fur babies and so I have one pet remaining and my husband and I have agreed that after Mocha’s time is up, and she’s six, that we won’t get another. For me. It’s just so hard to go through. It’s inevitable but it just hits hard every time and I’ve had lost three pets over the years but I lost her most recently. So I am a fur mom, but I lost one of mine and I want to give Kaya a shout out because she was so near and dear to my heart.

Carrie Cantrell: Shout out to you, Kaya.

Dr. Bennings: I know, right? She’s mommy’s heart. And, you know, in terms of creativity or art, I love music.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Dr. Bennings: And my daughter has, okay, I’m a little biased because she is my baby girl, but she has one of the most angelic voices that I’ve ever heard. And I used to sing I grew up in church, I used to sing, but when I hear her sing, it just, it really resonates with me, the art and the music, but how it stirs you internally in terms of whether it’s the tone, or the beat, or the flow, or the type of music. And I’m really into, I’m into different types of music, but what really gets me is music that can allow me to detox from my day; like calming music, jazz, or classical or just music with no lyrics.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah.

Dr. Bennings: So that for me is beautiful. And, other than that, one of my hobbies, I don’t know if you want to call it a hobby, but I love to work out.

Dr. Bennings: And it helps keep me grounded. So my schedule is, I typically work out five days a week, Thursdays. And Friday is typically my day off because I built in the board meeting. And so generally, I’ll get up at four in the morning and do a workout and it just does something to get my day started.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Carrie Cantrell: I love that.

Dr. Bennings: So that’s a little bit about me.

Carrie Cantrell: I’m in the 5-A.M club too.

Dr. Bennings: Doesn’t it make a difference?

Carrie Cantrell: So much, yeah. And like I really do miss it. Those mornings where like I decided to take an extra half hour and snuggle with my, my pet baby is only two right now. So we still do snuggle time before I have to go to work for the morning.

Dr. Bennings: I’d rather snuggle time with my fur baby too. So I’d be right there with you like, I’ll get up later.

Carrie Cantrell: But well, thank you so much for sharing yourself. Our first student question comes from Tyler Hart. Tyler is thirty-two and attending PCC as a business major. He asks: what are you a doctor of?

Dr. Bennings: Oh well, first of all, thank you Tyler for the question. I am not a medical doctor.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Dr. Bennings: The PhD is reflective of having a doctorate in higher education. My exact degree is doctorate and higher education administration. And so you know, on the academic side, you’ve got the doctor degrees. On the medical side, you’ve got the MD’s. And so what it does, it really adds credibility to your ability to really focus on a discipline, but also to be an expert in the field, and also be someone that’s recognized through the credentials of someone who at least knows or, you know, sometimes we think we know what we’re doing.

Carrie Cantrell: Right.

Dr. Bennings: And so I’m a doctorate. A doctorate of higher education administration.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay, excellent.

Dr. Bennings: Good question.

Carrie Cantrell: Thank you. Any memorable experiences from your time as a higher education student coming up? To get your PhD, right?

Dr. Bennings: Yeah. There’s so many, but I’ll share this. One of the most memorable experiences for me is, I started college at sixteen and I immediately started at a four year and I was not ready. I got kicked out the first semester.

Carrie Cantrell: Oh.

Dr. Bennings: It was it was not because I applied myself because I didn’t – I just was so new to the world. But the most memorable aspect of getting kicked out was the fact that the very next semester I attended a community college, Odessa College in Odessa, Texas. And I can honestly say that I would not be here today, I would not be the Adrien that I am today, if it had not been for a community college. And I recognize, through my own experiences, the opportunity that a community college provided, but also, I can only imagine the opportunities and the impacts that it has on students that are here in the community college realm or yet to come. So, that’s most memorable for me. It was like, you know, the silver lining of, oh my gosh I got kicked out how dare they, and it was all my fault. So that is most memorable for me in terms of my higher ed journey. That’s one of the most memorable experiences for me.

Carrie Cantrell: Excellent.

Dr. Bennings: Yeah, yeah.

Carrie Cantrell: Beautiful. Our next question comes from Emma, twenty-five. She’s taking prerequisite courses to become a chiropractor. But she wonders, as disabilities have become more visible in today’s current culture, how has your vision for Accessible Education and Disability Resources at PCC changed?

Dr. Bennings: Right. So, you know, there’s a great question. I will say that, I am yet learning about the disability culture here at PCC, being only eight months in. I don’t know that I can say I have a vision. I think first and foremost, I want to understand what our students need. But I also want to understand, how do we see our students and how do we treat them so that they’re not treated differently, right? And, you know, I’m still learning to navigate this world when we talk about disability. And when you break down the word of disability, dis means without, able means without ability. But that is not the case when it comes to disabled students. I have a member of my family, one of my nephews who was born with a condition, has never walked, never talked. But he is so personable. He has every ability to communicate. I’m hoping to first understand the culture here. I just had my orientation by, she’s now Dr. Kaela parks today. Yes, I have to give her a shout out. So I’m yet learning, what is happening, but I do want to say that my vision will align with the vision that’s already established, because I see it moving already in such a positive direction, especially under the leadership and guidance not only of our student advocates, but also Dr. Kaela parks in the team. And so I’m not coming in to create something new, I’m coming in to understand and align but also evolve in terms of, where do we still need to see some shifts or improvements. And where are those opportunities and how are we meeting students’ needs in every area. So that’s how I’ll frame that for now, because I’m yet learning.

Carrie Cantrell: Exciting, yeah.

Dr. Bennings: Good question though.

Carrie Cantrell: Next question comes from Dan Ozuna. Dan is a dual enrollee at OSU while taking lower-level classes at PCC. He notes that PCC is the second largest employer in Oregon in higher education, after OSU. What are your plans to implement equity strategies effectively, college wide in a way that will be visible to our students?

Dr. Bennings: Dan that is such a deep and meaningful question. Oh my gosh, y’all are really challenging me, this is a good challenge though. I think I would say that the first step is really, I’m gonna give my own context, and then I’ll tell some of the things that are happening at PCC. My context is that equity is not something that just happens, equity is not something that you can put in a box and equity is not something that you just create one office or structure to accomplish. I believe that equity should be something that’s embedded in everything we do, from our processes, our policies, our systems, in the mindsets of our people in our trainings. And so how can we do that. And I think one of the most impactful starts and steps toward that is, we are wrapping up, I call it our merger, consolidation of what was formerly our Office of Equity and Inclusion, and our human resources office, and intentionally renamed through this restructure of the office as well with this consolidation, so now it’s going to be known as People Strategy, Equity and Culture. And so we’re still in the, before I came on board, I knew that this work was going to start. And I wanted to see some deeper assessment of that before we move forward with implementation. So we just wrapped that up, workplace change has been leading that. We actually have two positions that are active right now, because we also wanted to elevate the Chief Diversity Officer role. So the Vice President for P. sec, People Strategy, Equity, and Culture, will also be our Chief Diversity Officer, they will have a responsibility for leading and embedding and creating and establishing that culture of equity and all that we do. So that’s faculty, staff, and students. So that’s where we’re at now and that work was just the finalization of that plan. Implementation just happened over the last couple of months and we just started to move forward with the first step of that change with new position changes, even in the titles, and how those are reflected over the last month. So from envisioning, I envision equity as something that we become and isn’t evident and it’s so embedded in all that we do that you can’t separate it, right. But I also think that there’s the opportunity through now having it structurally embedded through the P. sec division to translate some of those cultures, the cultural aspects and break down some of the cultural-isms in that realm. So there’s a lot of work to be done.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, thank you. One thing that we’d like to address is that there are limited food services on every campus right now. On Cascade or Southeast campus choices are often only limited to what comes in a vending machine. So what do you think this accomplishes for student life on campus? And what creative solutions can you think of to deliver attractive dining options to students?

Dr. Bennings: Wow. I am one who likes to take the approach in terms of, in this case, the food services; what is unique about each campus, what is different about each campus, what current resources to each campus. Because some campuses have food services, but you know, some may not. Some, you know, the food pantry may only need a portion of meat. So holistically, what is some sort of strategy that we can come up to meet the food insecurity needs, but I would certainly want to know and I wonder if, and I’m going to wonder out loud for a minute, I wonder if this is something too that we could also engage the ASPCC in in terms of how can we develop something. A plan and a path forward that is long term to really meeting the food insecurity needs, but also to making sure that there is a robust array of food options available to students, because we have classes at different times. Some may have evening classes and a vending machine didn’t give them what they need. So I’ll say I don’t have any ready solutions at this point. I have more questions than answers. And I think that’s a good state for me to be in at this time without knowing all the nuances and the impacts and the variables unique to those campuses.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think PCC loves to plan a food party. So you’ll get, you’ll get plenty of ideas from us.

Dr. Bennings: Count me in.

Carrie Cantrell: A little bit on a more serious note, many people in the disabled community experience higher rates of addiction, daily emotional distress and other mental health obstacles. What is your stance on mental health awareness at PCC? And what are some resources on campus or online to help students who need it?

Dr. Bennings: Well, mental health is very near and dear to me, you know. I’ve shared in certain settings, but not widely that years ago, back in 2011, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. It took me through a series of emotions that weren’t conducive to healthy outcomes, you know. Eventually, at one point in life, I was questioning, why was I even here, right? So I can imagine the layers of mental health that go from depression I’ve had, I have a family member who has bipolar disorder, I had a family member who committed suicide, they had schizophrenia, you have this spectrum of mental issues. And, how do you tackle that? Right? How do we tend to the whole student? So my initial approach to mental health at PCC is, first of all, having my own personal understanding, experiences with it, and having family members with lived experiences. But recognizing and even throughout Portland, realizing that it is a serious issue that needs critical attention. You know, I know I was at the PW Expo, and one of the resources I saw that PCC had was addiction counseling, some of that is tied to addiction counseling, some of it’s tied to navigating emotional aspects. And so I do believe that when we talk about this sense of belonging piece, knowing that who we serve, the internal aspect of them is who we need to reach, if that makes sense.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah.

Dr. Bennings: And so my approach to mental health is that, it’s not about how you look, because unless I told you, you wouldn’t have known that I was diagnosed with clinical depression. And so many people walk around, and they have more mental things going on that we are aware of. It brings to mind how, as an educational institution, can we meet the whole student from the food, the housing, the childcare, the mental, you know, how do we do that? And it can be done? But also, we have to think about how do we do that in a way that aligns with our capacity and our resources, but also effective outcomes. So you’re asking me some great questions, I think I would say to come back to me on this question, too. Let’s have a follow up conversation because I certainly want to circle back. But I can also tell you that between this time and that time, I’m going to be wanting to talk to the student.

Carrie Cantrell: I believe you.

Dr. Bennings: I’m gonna want to, I want the students to tell me. See, and here’s the thing, because when I had my own mental depression, someone could come and tell me what they think I needed right, but it would not be really tackling what would help me to overcome, because I want to hear from the students. So that would be willing, you know, what have you seen as a greatest need in helping you, you know, with your mental health or serving you, even that mental health just serving you as a whole student?

Carrie Cantrell: Good to know.

Dr. Bennings: You know, how do we serve the whole student? And that’s what I want to hear from the students. Because every student that comes across our doors is different. And so it can’t be, some of it can be systematized, but it can’t be a cookie-cutter type of approach because everyone is different. And how can we meet the students’ needs? So I would definitely welcome and be open to hearing from students. So if y’all have accessibility forums, and that sort of thing I would want some space to hear from the students.

Carrie Cantrell: Absolutely. Absolutely. How is the college continuing to handle COVID? When can immunocompromised people feel safer going mask-less?

Dr. Bennings: So I know before I came on board, really the parameters around safety we’re hiding around COVID. And since I’ve come on board, there are no mass requirements. I think that when it comes to immunocompromised are really considering the safety of our students. Really everyone who crosses our campus borders, is looking at not only the alignment between our national regulations, CDC, county regs, but also in what spaces do we need to or should we create enhanced parameters, right? Whether or not they’re required or recommended. And so, one of the things I have yet to learn is about the accommodations side for our students. And I would want to know, what accommodations do we currently have in place that I would say could help to mitigate? Or some of those safety concerns? And then where are those reasonable accommodations missing the opportunity? Because when you think about COVID, we, and this was before I came on board, but we as in the college had to really shift to take this approach to do, I guess, safety restrictions for everyone involved. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that there are still safety restrictions needed for certain individuals, right. And so that is, I would say that it’s not off the table. I would want to understand the accommodations piece, but also dive into those realms on the student side, in terms of what they would need, or what about our current environment? One of the questions I would have is: what about our current environment as we emerge from the pandemic, still gives a sense that it’s not safe, you know? And that piece would help to fill in that puzzle for me. I’m more of a question person. I’m like, what you know, because I’m like, understanding for me, it’s very important. First and foremost.

Carrie Cantrell: I’m a bottoms-up thinker myself. To get the details and make a solid foundation and then you can get to the perspective you need.

Dr. Bennings: Yes.

Carrie Cantrell: What are your plans for PCC’s digital future? Is it possible for more classes to become available online or remotely?

Dr. Bennings: So the second part of that question is very easy. Yes, it’s possible, because COVID has certainly taught us that it’s possible, look at how the college pivoted. In terms of the plan, I know that through my orientation today with Dr. Parks, one of the groups that they have established as an accessibility council, and the digital aspect and the technology pieces are two of those components that she mentioned today, in terms of the accessibility piece. Now, from my lens, my vision is that as a college, we have to remain flexible and nimble. Most of our students either work, they have obligations outside of college, and then certain hours of time of just having in-person may not be conducive, you know. And so my vision is that we remain committed to evolving and changing and I think that building upon the changes that we’ve implemented through the pandemic have certainly accelerated us, or let me change that, catapulted us. Well, before we thought we were ready. But I think it’s something to build upon, right. And so right now, we’re seeing that, yeah, significant portion of our students are taking courses online and remote. And we built in some flexibility in terms of those classes where, you know, we don’t just have in-person. Now the physical presence is very critical, because we are established to be a presence in our communities and a place that students could come, but also having some flexibility to adapt to the different needs of our student. And that’s one piece of the pie in meeting the needs of the whole student. So that would be my large vision, but also bringing in every individual that’s connected; I’ve got Chief Information Officer, I’ve got Kaela with the accessibility piece, I’ve got, you know, the web piece, I’ve got faculty who develop courses. So hearing from them also will be very important in shaping the long-term picture for our digital strategy. I don’t think that the college, I haven’t seen one, so let me not misspeak, I don’t know that we have a digital strategy. I don’t know. And it’s possible it’s out and I just haven’t been oriented to it.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Dr. Bennings: That would be something that, how do we build a digital strategy.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Dr. Bennings: Starting with our students, starting with our employees, because our employees now are working differently as well. And then the strategy creates a framework and it creates institutional plan and it creates a roadmap from here to there.

Carrie Cantrell: I love it.

Dr. Bennings: So that’s my two cents but.

Carrie Cantrell: Make a strategy, who knew?

Dr. Bennings: Right? Yeah, embed it, it’s a part of PCC. So we’re open to change and we have to be open to change because, we can’t do college the way we’ve been doing it.

Carrie Cantrell: What is one of your successful strategies for achieving life success that you’d like to share with a student?

Dr. Bennings: One of my most successful strategies, and I was just sharing this at the expo today is, always be in a state of learning.

Dr. Bennings: Right. At the end of the day, I’m just Adrien. The PhD does not say I know it all and have learned all. I’ll be learning till the day I die. The day that an individual – Let me personalize it. The day that I’m no longer open to learning or saying that I know all I need to know is the day that I have nothing else to contribute to life or society or other people. So the learning, learning. Yeah.

Carrie Cantrell: Okay.

Carrie Cantrell: Beautiful.

Dr. Bennings: Yeah.

Carrie Cantrell: Your voice is really appreciated, Adrien. I just wanted to say thank you.

Dr. Bennings: Thank you, Carrie. Well I enjoyed this because I don’t get to interact with students very much. You know? So this is refreshing.

Carrie Cantrell: Yeah, that’d be cool. I was also talking to Dr. Parks today.

Dr. Bennings: Dr. Parkes, I need to get used to saying that.

Carrie Cantrell: I know, right?

Dr. Bennings: [laughs]

Carrie Cantrell: [indistinct]

Dr. Bennings: Thank you so much, you too.

Carrie Cantrell: Thanks again for tuning in to this episode of “Let’s Talk.” We had a lot of great conversation with Dr. Bennings, and we got some kind of good clues on how to move forward to address our needs and our agenda as students. So I’d say let’s continue to organize. Let’s continue to let our voice be heard, and let’s talk. Please do not forget to tune in for our future podcast series about autism and ADHD, hosted by Amanda Antell. There will be a series of guests and revolving speakers for these roundtable discussions that I think will open up our culture and introduce some much-needed dialogue.

Carrie Cantrell: See you next time. This is “Let’s Talk.” Thanks again.