2 MCC employees invited to speak at state conference

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Dr. Tonya Jackson and Bethany Siehr
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MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave Community College was represented at the Arizona Women in Higher Education Annual Conference (AWHE), Bethany Siehr and Dr. Tonya Jackson, presented on Friday, April 8 about staff and faculty transitioning into administration roles. 

Siehr is Employee Learning and Development Manager at MCC and Dr. Jackson is Associate Dean of Instruction on the Kingman campus. Both, in their careers have transitioned from staff and faculty roles into administration.

“The process of moving from faculty to administration was daunting, anxiety-ridden and thrilling all at the same time and I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach on all three of our southern campuses,” Dr. Jackson said. “I’ve been able to build relationships with colleagues across the board and that’s been a huge help in the transition.”

Dr. Jackson added the greatest factor in her success and someone she looks up to has been Dr. Lucinda Leugers, Interim Dean of General Education & Transfer. She’s thankful for being able to work with Dr. Jennifer Woolston and Dr. Stephanie Dieringer, Associate Deans of Instruction for the Bullhead and Lake Havasu campuses.

Siehr has been surveying colleagues within her field on what their career goals are and how they plan to achieve them.

“It became clear that many people, including myself, were not actively planning to transition away from faculty duties,” she said. “When the opportunity or ‘the calling’ to serve the institution arises the combination of limited formal management training and scarcity of women in mentorship positions can make jump to administration isolating and overwhelming.”

The conference is a professional development experience and brings together higher education professionals from all over the state of Arizona. Siehr and Dr. Jackson are associated with AWHE and decided to submitted a proposal to present.

“That paradigm is skewed in favor of more even treatment at MCC and we wanted to highlight that and help other women to overcome the barriers we have seen as we have both transitioned from faculty to members of an administrative leadership team,” they said.

Dr. Jackson and Siehr said it’s important for MCC to be represented at this conference because less than 25% of women hold leadership positions in colleges nationwide, and at MCC leadership tells a different story.

MCC is currently enrolling students in classes for summer semester and fall semester. The college application process is simple and free . The online application is at Apply.Mohave.edu. Those interested in becoming students can also visit a campus near them and speak with student services employees for assistance and more information, or call 1-866-MOHAVECC.

Bethany Siehr

Bethany Siehr

Dr. Tonya Jackson

Dr. Tonya Jackson