Gwen Koehler, Executive Dean of Corporate, Continuing, and Adult Education, McHenry County College
Gwen Koehler, the Executive Dean of Corporate, Continuing, and Adult Education at McHenry County College is a long-term partner in adult education. From her early days in Champaign, though her years as the adult education director at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, to her current responsibilities, Gwen has honed her management skills to meet the demands of our wide and varied field.
Her management philosophy can be summed up by her belief that we all have a valuable part to play and should be allowed to do our jobs sustained by leadership which is focused on removing barriers and which offers support. Open and clear communication in all directions is a hallmark of her management. She believes that everyone, including students, have a role in helping track the course of a program. She feels this is especially true in this era of great change in national and state expectations and definitions of what adult education is and should do.
During her years in education Gwen has seen that the systems of education change more slowly than the general culture and is concerned that this disconnect appears to be getting greater. As a result, as the systems supporting education change, there are often times of chaos as new standards and outcomes are determined. To offset this disconnect, Gwen stresses the importance of program management having a strong, clear sense of mission. This becomes the anchor that allows both the staff and the students to continue performing during the unsettled times that seem to hit education periodically.
As Gwen has moved from instructor to executive dean she has found many useful and reliable sources of assistance. One of these is the Service Center Network with its wealth of resources which are especially helpful for those new to the field. Another important resource for Gwen is colleagues. She has always found the network of fellow educators and managers to be full of mentors, whether intentional or unintentional. This network has allowed Gwen to risk new things such as concepts, procedures, and practices. Gwen also lauds ICCB for its openness in using talented people within the adult education community to offer ideas, plans, and suggestions as it strives to improve adult education delivery and outcomes in Illinois.
And finally, from her own experiences, Gwen has learned that when plans and ideas have been unsuccessful it was because ALL stakeholders hadn’t been involved in the process.
