Presidents of member institutions of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) elected GateWay Community College President Steven Gonzales to its board of directors, effective July 1.
According to AACC, the 32-member board of directors acts on behalf of the institutional members to create and re-create a vision for AACC and to determine and assure appropriate organizational performance. The Board is committed to guaranteeing accountability of AACC to the membership. Its mission is to "Build a Nation of Learners by Advancing America's Community Colleges."
Gonzales will serve a three-year term. As a board member, he will act on behalf of the institutional members to create and re-create a vision for AACC and to determine and assure appropriate organizational performance.
Prior to the board appointment, he has served on the AACC Academic, Student, and Community Development Commission since 2014.
The AACC represents nearly 1,200 two-year, associate degree–granting institutions and nearly 13 million students, as well as a growing number of international members in Puerto Rico, Japan, Great Britain, Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The colleges are the largest and fastest-growing sector of U.S. higher education, enrolling close to half (45 percent) of all U.S. undergraduates.
Since July of 2013, Dr. Steven Gonzales has been President of GateWay Community College, a college with occupational, university transfer, and trade and technical training programs serving nearly 13,000 students annually.
Gonzales earned his doctorate in educational administration in the top-ranked Community College Leadership Program from the University of Texas at Austin. His doctoral research focused primarily on the improvement of developmental education. He was awarded a University Pre-emptive Fellowship, as well as the John and Suanne Roueche Fellowship. He holds a master of arts in teaching mathematics and bachelor of science in secondary education – mathematics, both from Northern Arizona University.