College president honored with CEO award

Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas was honored with the 2009 Association of Community College Trustees Chief Executive Officer Award for the Mountain Region. 

Karas received the award in October at the association’s Community College Leadership Congress in San Francisco, according to a news release from the college.

Given annually, the award recognizes the most distinguished college CEOs in the association’s five regions. Each region has approximately 230 institutions.

The Mountain Region includes Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territory and Saskatchewan.

In his nomination of Karas for the award, John Engebretson, FVCC Board Chairman, credited her innovative leadership for producing many benefits for the institutions and its students.

He credited Karas with forging strategic partnerships with local industries and other institutions of higher learning. 

“The public’s confidence in her leadership led to the passage of a $16 million levy to double the size of the campus and dramatically increase its academic, technical and community education offerings,” Engebretson said.

Karas became the college’s 11th president on July 1, 2001. As president of the state’s largest and fastest-growing community college, she has developed partnerships with industry, hospitals and other education institutions and supported tribal community colleges on two neighboring Indian reservations.

With the Flathead Business and Education Council, Karas has provided leadership in responding to local small businesses needs. She also established a partnership with Kalispell Regional Medical Center to serve the college’s allied health programs.

Other accomplishments noted in her nomination include:

n Her leadership role in the presenting new opportunities for seamless K-14 education for area students.

n Her support of the distance education through interactive television presenting new opportunities for residents in rural communities to receive college educations.

n Her initiation of on-campus child care enabling more students to attend college.

n Her key role in the college’s land transaction nearly doubling the campus size and positioning the college for future growth and expansion.

n Her role in the college’s Scholars Program creating new opportunities for gifted students to take scholars-level courses on the community college campus.

n Her leadership role in providing global education through study abroad programs in Peru, Nepal and Italy and a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Shenyang, China.

n Her representation of Montana’s three community colleges at legislative hearings and her service as an advocate and negotiator for her college and for two-year education in the state.

n Her leadership in helping displaced workers retrain during the recent economic downturn and area layoffs.