Grand Rapids Community College welcomed the first of three presidential candidates to campus Friday, Dec. 5. Nerita Hughes, currently serving as President at Bay de Noc Community College, emphasized an open door policy, and student safety and belonging when meeting with faculty, students and staff.
The Collegiate covered the faculty Q&A session, which was followed by a session for the students.
President of Student Government Eldin Causevic began the student session.
What does student success mean to you in the context of a community college that serves students with a wide range of goals?
“Student success, to me, is when you all walk out of these four walls, and you are able to land a job or a career, and you’re able to thrive. So when you all succeed, we succeed, and it’s making sure that we have removed barriers for you, and we’re opening up opportunities for you all to be able to move the needle as you’re in school. I often talk about how do we serve students holistically, that is mind, body, and soul. Making sure that we’re providing support that you need to be successful while you’re here.”
I’ve heard students share concerns for the future with the fear of their safety due to their race, national heritage, or political beliefs, given the current political climate in the U.S. How would you reassure them that they belong and are safe at GRCC?
“I think it’s a couple things. One, have we created an environment here at GRCC for you all to feel safe? Also, I’ve had to educate people to understand the meaning of what diversity, equity, and inclusion is because they’re some stigmas around that, and it’s not even just the ethnic diversity aspect of it, we have LGBTQIA+. We also have folks that are first generation students, neurodiversity, so there’s all these facets. And so how we make sure that students feel safe is making sure that we’re meeting you where you’re at. We’re giving you that sense of belonging, whether that’s in the classroom or outside of the classroom, while you’re in the community, you should not feel like when you walk out of here that you have to watch your back, or even while you’re here you need to watch your back because you’re concerned about something that’s going to be done, or said. So as a current sitting president, I have always made sure that no student walks out not feeling safe.”
How would you make resources more available for students?
“So one thing that I would say is we need to do a better job as an institution to make sure that students know where their resources are. So whether it’s we’re directing them to a website, we have marques, so whether we’re putting them on the screens around campus saying ‘Hey we have this or we have that.’ Are there fliers or something like that, and those will need to be put in common spaces where the students are. This is something that should happen on the front end. From the time that you apply, to the time you got acceptance, and you’re ready to register, we walk you through all the different supports that are available and the resources that are available for students, and not wait for a while before receiving that information happens.”
Before the student session the candidate fielded questions from faculty members.
In the current political climate, how would you protect and promote academic freedom and enhance the college’s goal of belonging and inclusion for all?
“I think that we are actually blessed here in Michigan, and the reason why I say that is because we have a governor that is saying, ‘I am not shying away from diversity, equity, and inclusion.’ That is not something that every state can say. So the fact that we are still driving hard on that speaks volumes. But when it gets to academic freedom, it’s how do you make sure that you know who’s in your classroom? And how do you hone in and meet students where they are, and be able to educate them accordingly? When it comes to academic freedom, that’s not something that I can dictate, and I shouldn’t dictate that, nobody from administration should dictate that because acting with freedom is you all having the freedom to exercise your teaching and learning in the classroom so that the students can be successful.”
Study away and global learning can change life trajectories, but they remain inaccessible for many Black, low income, and first generation students. What is your vision for expanding equitable global learning opportunities, and how will you support faculty who are building these pathways?
“This is where partnerships come into play. Who are our community partners that can help fund some of these aspects and give the opportunities? Looking at some of our scholarship programming just for people to even go to school, we have Michigan Reconnect, Community College guarantee, and Grand Rapids Promise. So we can use that same mindset and framework to say, ‘Do we connect with our local foundations? Do we connect with our business & industry partners? Do we connect with our community-based organizations and talk about what this will do?’ Global education is just like working in the 21st century. We’re in a global workforce so why wouldn’t we want to invest from that aspect as well.”
Faculty at GRCC usually have long tenures, but we have seen a lot of administrative turnover. What is your experience with this? And how do you think that this should impact how we decide to structure our work and responsibilities?
“A couple things, one, when we look at the current landscape of higher education, we’re seeing the turnover, unfortunately. So when you look at my level, I’m sitting in a president’s seat right now, years ago the tenure for presidents was seven years; today it’s three to five. The work is harder, there’s limited resources, and pressure. Pressure can be environmental, political, legislative, and so forth. You’re also seeing people that are no longer willing to be in it for the long haul, and that’s unfortunate. But what I think one of the things we have to think about is, what’s their why? When they got the call, and they’re saying they want this role, why are they saying they want the role? So if we have not identified why people are exiting stage left, then we’re going to continue to see this rack of turnover versus saying, ‘What can we do to help? What dollars are we putting into professional development? How have we done with praises? And praises mean how have we acknowledged the work that they’ve done?’ Acknowledging the work people have done, sometimes a simple thank you goes a long way. It’s also making sure that we’re hiring the right people. So it’s digging in and unpacking that, working alongside HR to say, ‘How do we make sure we get it right?’
For some students, this is the first time that they had the opportunity to be a part of the process of getting to know a new presidential candidate for the college. An opportunity that second year GRCC student Seth Dee is not taking for granted.
“They’ll be students here after us,” Dee said. “So the people who’ll be in charge will be the ones making the decisions, so being a part of the process of meeting, hearing, and seeing the candidates is essential.”
With this being the first of two more forum sessions to identify the best fit for the presidential position, Causevic shined a light on just how important it is for students to utilize their voice throughout this process.
“This is an incredible opportunity that students have,” Causevic said. “To come here and hear from the presidential candidates themselves at these student forums, and then give feedback and let GRCC and the whole community know what we want in a president. It gives the student body a chance to have a part in this presidential process. Part of student government has always been to represent the voices of the students, and this is one just awesome opportunity that the students can come and be their own voices.”
The other two candidates will be on campus this week for their forum session. Both will take place at the GRCC Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center.
Kathryn Rogalski – Tuesday December 9, 2025.
Faculty forum session will take place in ATC 168 from 3 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. Followed by the Student leaders forum in ATC 118 from 4 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
Jason Rivera – Wednesday December 10, 2025.
Faculty forum session will take place in ATC 168 from 3 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. Followed by the Student leaders forum in ATC 118 from 4 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
