The Community's College (PDF)

Robert L. Pura retired after forty years of service as a teacher and administrator in the Massachusetts Community College System, the last eighteen as President of Greenfield Community College. Bob is a proud graduate of Miami Dade Community College where he earned his A.A. Degree. He then went on to earn his B.A. at the University of South Florida; M.S. from St. Thomas University, Miami; and Ph.D. in Educational Administration (CCLP) from the University of Texas in Austin.Dr. Pura served on the New England Commission on Higher Education, the Commission for Academic, Student and Community Development for the American Association of Community Colleges, was a member of the Working Group on Assessment of Student Learning for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, and chaired the Massachusetts Community Colleges' President's Council. Bob also served on the Boards of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, Bay State Health Systems of Western Massachusetts, The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, and the International Language Institute. Dr. Pura is currently Senior Fellow for Community College Leadership at The University of Massachusetts Boston's College of Education and Human Development. Tara L. Parker is Chair of the Leadership in Education Department and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on race and higher education, including three interrelated areas: 1) the application of critical race theory to higher education; 2) the experiences and contributions of faculty of color; and 3) the influence of public policy on developmental education and its implications for college access and success.Dr. Parker's scholarship has been published in the Review of Higher Education, Teachers College Record, the Journal of College Student Development and the Community College Journal of Research and Prac