Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Pulliams wins CASE Regional Leadership Award

Photos and story by James Hill

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Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams has been given the Regional Leadership Award by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. The region covers the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada and includes not only community colleges and smaller colleges, but also large four-year universities.

“There could be no more deserving recipient of a regional CASE leadership award than he,” said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. “Dr. Pulliams has a vision of access to higher education for anyone who wants in. His passion for this philosophy is one of the reasons I named him to the Oregon Board of Higher Education, where he has proven his leadership time and time again.”

The award comes at a time when Pulliams is enjoying the success of passing the $374 million capital bond measure in 2008 – the largest educational bond measure in the history of Oregon. Passing the bond measure was the president’s top priority and he made presentations at dozens of events where he shared his vision for access. In the face of economic downturn and growing unemployment, the measure passed in November 2008, which will expand facilities to serve 20,000 additional full-time students.

He also took the lead in making PCC tobacco-free last fall. The college is the largest educational institution in Oregon to take this step and he helped accomplish this difficult task by meeting with and gaining support of the students, staff and faculty. In addition, he was instrumental in gaining a $1 million grant from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The grant will help retrofit the college’s oldest campus – Sylvania – reduce its carbon footprint and become energy neutral.

In addition, Pulliams – the fifth president of PCC – launched a capacity-building plan for the PCC Foundation and helped secure local grants and college funds to support that plan. Annual contributions to the Foundation have more than quadrupled in the five years he has led PCC. During the same period, the Foundation’s endowment more than doubled, despite the recent market downturn, and annual scholarship awards have more than tripled.

“He is the Portland leader who I recognized as the champion of providing access to education after high school for all Portland area students,” said Jim Francesconi, vice chair of the State Board of Higher Education and former Portland City Commissioner. “He has doubled the scholarships at Portland Community College for low-income students so that all Portland students can access these facilities. He has created partnerships with K-12 to expand credit and middle college models so that high school students can learn the advanced skills they need to succeed in college and the workplace.”

As a young man, Pulliams expected to join his father as a foundry worker, but became the first in his family to attend college thanks to a scholarship from his local Rotary Club. That first gift of opportunity to go to his local community college inspired Pulliams to make access to higher education the cornerstone of his vision at PCC.

“His overriding philosophy is ‘access to all’ and he walks the walk,” said Harold Williams, chairman of the PCC Board of Directors. “His leadership can be seen in the little things, like taking photography and physical education classes at PCC, which allows him to interact with students and faculty. And it can be seen in the big things, like appearing at scores of internal and external events to promote our successful 2008 bond measure – the largest educational bond measure in the history of Oregon, which passed in the depths of a recession.”

Pulliams, who dabbles in photography when he isn’t working on college business, earned his associate’s degree in science from Muskegon Community College. He received a bachelor’s degree in social science from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in counseling and personnel from Western Michigan University and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Michigan. He came to Portland Community College in 2004 after serving as vice-chancellor for Community Colleges for the State University of New York (SUNY), where he coordinated and directed the activities of the 30 community colleges in the SUNY system.

It didn’t take him long to establish his vision at Portland. He made it a priority to get into the community, to meet with business leaders, and to serve on boards, such as State Board of Higher Education and the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. Pulliams engaged the community as a whole, focusing on diversity. In 2007, PCC won the National Equity Award from the Association of Community College Trustees for growing PCC’s minority student population by more than 25 percent and its part-time faculty pool by 28 percent.

“He has helped make the college a welcoming place for people of color, people with disabilities, older Oregonians, middle and high school students, and many more,” Williams added. “He was instrumental in the college winning a nationwide award in 2007 as the most diverse community college in the nation. Our diversity has increased for students, staff, faculty and administrators.”

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.