Background

Served as vice president of academic affairs/chief academic officer/SACSCOC liaison at Halifax Community College since 2013.
She previously served as vice president of instruction/chief academic officer for Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin (2011-2013), associate vice president for learner success at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin (2008-2011), and assistant provost/interim dean for liberal arts and sciences at Milwaukee Area Technical College in Milwaukee (2006-2008).
Dr. Fulmer earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master’s degree in cultural foundations of education and her Ph.D. in Urban Education — Administrative Leadership/Adult Education, both from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The interview

Why did you want to apply to be president of HCC?

I wanted to apply because I am committed and passionate about what I do and about the college and the people it serves. I feel that being in the role of president gives me an opportunity to really affect change to what happens to the community college as we move forward in these interesting times we have. I want to be there. The college is already on the map with all the work that’s been done thus far and I want to be able to carry it out in a way that it respects what has been done and carry out that legacy and then to ensure that we have to move forward.

What do you feel you can bring to the table for the college?

My energy, my various experiences. I’m actually already there so I have background that will lessen the learning curve because it will be a different position moving out of a vice presidency into a presidency. I’m already familiar with the college so I don’t have to worry about that. I’ve had some experiences in the past that I think I could also share to enhance what we’re already doing and maybe look at things from fresh eyes and have the courage to do it. I’m not afraid to tackle issues and concerns and I’m not afraid to chart new territory.

What would you like to see done at the community college should you get the job?

First of all I want to enhance and create more excitement around student success. I want to move forward and in strengthening partnerships. It doesn’t mean our partnerships aren’t already strong, but as the world changes we have to continuously ensure that we sustain those partnerships and make them better.
We also need to look at new programs. I have some ideas about that and I would like to move forward on some of those new programs as we work with the industry in this local community and then looking more globally at what students need.
In our mission as well as in our vision statement for the college we talk about training students to be globally marketable and so I want to maybe look at that and see where we can go as we move forward because our students and people who access the college will need to be able to operate in a global environment.
I’m looking at developing more teams of people to talk about what the concerns are and then looking at how we address those and how we build upon our strengths at the college and make the student experience a better experience than it already is so that students will be more apt to stay and more apt to complete. Even though a lot of people talk about the poverty in this area, there’s a lot of strength in this area as well and we need to capitalize on that.

Who influenced your decision to get into education?

My parents. My father was actually a professor and dean at Shaw University many years ago. So I’ve always been around it, did not think I would like it because of what I used to see as a kid, but once I had an opportunity to work in a college I fell in love with it and said this is what I’m passionate about. I feel like it’s a calling in a way. You have to understand what that means in your life, you’re always thinking about others and you have a passion for it, you’re ensuring that others have opportunities as well.
I feel like education is the place where you can make a difference and I’ve always wanted to do that where you can help to lead someone in a direction that will improve their quality of life. It’s the best of all worlds.

Any favorite book you’ve read or any favorite person you’ve drawn inspiration from the most?

I’ve had some phenomenal opportunities in my life and it just so happened that my father and Martin Luther King went to Boston University together.
Martin Luther King was in our house, talking about an influence on servitude and being a servant leader.
I was around a lot of the civil rights movement folks who gave their all for the cause and to make a difference. To live in that kind of environment you can’t help but want to give back, to want to help or do a similar type of thing.
I feel like there’s just opportunity everywhere and you get a certain intrinsic satisfaction from being able to help people. I feel like I can do that as a president because I believe in people.

How will the possible change in the state governor’s race change education on the community college level?

That remains to be seen, however, I think we all need to stay focused on what is happening, keep our ears to the ground on what is going on and be able to stand up for what we need and be able to articulate that and be at the table to be able to make decisions about the directions we need to go in order to maintain the level of resources in order to make our colleges run. Colleges are necessary so I don’t see them going away certainly.
This is an exciting time and in that time we’re just going to have to be ready to stand up for what we know is good and what is right for our communities and be at the table when the questions are asked and be able to say so when things are not going well.
In one way things may stay similar, but we have some rural concerns that we need to make some noise around and stick together as rural colleges to make sure we have the appropriate resources so that we can also provide our constituents with the best education possible.
I think that’s we can do right now so I’m hopeful that we will grow and we will address the challenges as we come about.