SIVADON NAMED NEW
CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER TCC’s incoming new Chief Academic Officer, Angela Sivadon, knows the life-changing power of a community college from personal experience. She’ll be the first to tell you that, without it, she would not be where she is. “I had to try three times before college was successful for me,” says Angela. A first-generation college student, Angela earned her first nursing degree at Tulsa Junior College, now Tulsa Community College, and then worked 14 years as a cardiac nurse in the Tulsa community. “After about 10 years, I realized that to do more, I had to have more education. That’s why I went back to school. I got my bachelor’s, master’s and then my doctorate back to back to back. TJC gave me my first career as a nurse and has given me my second career in higher education.” She joined TCC in 2010 teaching as a full-time faculty member in the Nursing program after teaching as an adjunct for two years. She developed and launched the College’s Cardiovascular Technology program to meet the growing demand from community hospitals. In February 2019, she was appointed Provost for the Metro Campus, where she oversaw the Schools of Allied Health, Business & IT, and Nursing, including Corrections Education programming. While serving as Faculty Association President, she co-chaired the implementation of Guided Pathways for the college and presented nationally on the process of integrating guided pathways and strategic planning to ensure student success. This work has helped her be a strong advocate for marginalized and minoritized students in obtaining their degrees and goals at TCC.
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She credits nursing for making her a better educator, and now, a better administrator. “In nursing, as long as you always kept the patient at the center, you were doing the right thing,” she says. “With education, it’s the same way. As long as you keep the student as the middle of the conversation, and do the right thing for the student, you can’t go wrong. “So the question is, ‘how to do the best thing for our students, especially our marginalized and underrepresented students, to make sure they can obtain their goals and enter a family-sustaining career? That they know how to maneuver the system, and how to accomplish their goals?’” She’ll officially step into her new role on August 1, but she’s already been working hand-in-hand with Dr. Cindy Hess, who’s retiring from TCC this summer. Angela considers Hess a mentor and role-model. “I learned a ton from Dr. Hess,” says Angela. “She really focused on the student experience and taught me the importance of asking the right questions. What I’ve learned from her, I’ve incorporated it into my own processes and strategies, and will take it to the next level. She also liked to have fun, and I like people that like to have fun. I’m all about the fun.” Part of the fun comes from having good, meaningful relationships between people across the College, and it’s something she’s seen improve during the pandemic. “We show each other a lot more grace than we did before,” she says. “We need to make sure we’re working together, and through this pandemic, we’ve gotten a little better at figuring that out. It may seem counterintuitive, but there are a lot of silver linings to this pandemic.”
