Generosa López-Molina's frame of reference on meeting educational needs keeps expanding-from serving individuals to serving entire systems of learning. With her PhD from Capella, she says she now feels ready for virtually any leadership challenge facing higher education.
She began in Chicago in a program that looked at mentoring processes for inner-city students. Next she took a position at Case Western Reserve's Mandel School of Applied Social Science, investigating the educational challenges that result from poverty. Adding on a master's degree that focused on adult student issues and then studying at a theological center, she saw her personal mission grow in scope. She wanted to become a senior leader in higher education to have an impact on entire communities.
Looking around, she decided Capella offered the best program to help her get the credentials she needed to realize her goals—while allowing her to continue her commitments to her job, family, and community. “Capella's PhD program was exactly what I needed,” she says. She also won a scholarship from Capella and the League for Innovation in the Community College.
Her dissertation focused on two essential facts: that more than 6,000 community college executives will retire over the next few years, but those colleges aren't well-prepared for succession. Even though minorities comprise 34 percent of the community college student population, relatively few minorities are in leadership positions at those institutions. With the dissertation studies supporting her, Dr. López-Molina is helping minority students prepare themselves for leadership positions in higher education.
As the Dean of the Division of Academic Foundations at Lorain County Community College and as president of the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges, Dr. López-Molina helping her institution and others find ways to mentor minorities so they gain the critical personal and professional skills needed by tomorrow's community college leaders.
She credits Capella with helping her strengthen her leadership capabilities to address this issue and others. “All of the factors of Capella's doctoral program have equipped to further expand my sphere of innovation,” Dr. López-Molina says. “I feel that I can now help shape higher education in the 21st century, while achieving one of the most important goals in my life.”