Crittenden sees opportunity, community in SWCC

Dr. Barb Crittenden said her 40-year career through Southwestern Community College was “fairly traditional” as she advanced from the classroom to the president’s office.

As she retires, her career and influence on others and the institution have been anything but traditional.

“It was about opportunities arising and responding to those opportunities,” she said from her office. “I’ve enjoyed each phase of my career.”

The Creston native, who graduated from Creston High in 1976, started out in the Southwestern classroom in 1981 as a RN (registered nurse) instructor. She had earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Graceland. Southwestern did not have a RN program at the time. Crittenden was working at Greater Regional Health Center which was also used as training grounds for health-care students.

“The college approached me wondering if I was willing to be a part-time teacher,” she said. “I thought I work part time, four days at the hospital and two days teaching.”

The first opportunity happened when SWCC was approved to have a RN program and she applied to instruct the course starting in fall 1982.

“I enjoyed nursing, but that transitioned to patient care through students. Nursing has always been dear to my heart,” she said.

It turned out to be a good fit. She had no interest in leaving Creston and she was doing something she enjoyed.

“When you start a career, you’re not sure where you can land, but I thought nurses always had an opportunity to work,” she said.

After years leading a classroom, another opportunity appeared. She was named assistant vice president for instruction. In 1988, she was named the vice president for instruction, a position she held until July 1997.

As she looked back through her teaching and administration roles before president, she explained how there are duties most people won’t see.

“There is a significant time commitment. Even with a good instructor, when you are on the outside, you can think they just walk in and present material. There is more work to preparing for the classroom presentation. Same thing with administration; there is always background work,” she said. “Over the years we’ve watched regulations and issues increase where there is so much time committed to background, paper work and accreditation. The more you know, the more you realize what you don’t know.”

She was named president of the college in 1997. She replaced Dr. Rich Byerly who resigned after 12 years during the 1996-1997 school year.

“I don’t know I set this office as a goal,” she said. “I just try and do the best work that I could. Doing that, when an opportunity was presented to do it on a broader level from this office, it was something I wanted to take on.”

Crittenden was the first woman president of SWCC. At the time she was the only women president among Iowa’s 15 community colleges.

“There are other women presidents now,” she said.

Crittenden would be known for many other things during her time as president. Two years into her presidency, she was working on a program that had evolved but still heavily relied on during 2020.

“We started our online education in 1999,” she said as Southwestern was a charter member of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium in 2000. “When the pandemic came, we felt really good about that. We already had the experience to deliver in that format,” she said.

That program was not a surprise to Tom Lesan, the college’s vice president of economic development who has known Crittenden since junior high school. Student benefits influence virtually every proposal.

“Barb is an unusual person, but in a good way,” he said. “She’s good for getting other’s input. Today, there are four of us on an administration team. We don’t go down any direction without consensus this is what we want to do. She involves everyone. She’s been that way for her 39-point-something years here. It’s not changed much. If it’s good for students, we will find a way to do it.”

More was to come that benefits students. Crittenden said the Southwestern staff and students’ success is what sells the institution, and for what the school offers.

“We have students who go to Skills USA competitions and place nationally,” she said about the various contests SWCC vocational students attend. “We have had students who have been New Century Scholars.” The New Century Scholars program is partially sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa to recognize community college students. Students from 900 community colleges across the country are nominated for their grades, leadership, activities and most importantly, how students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

“And our students do well within our license programs,” she said, nursing being one example. “You see them get a job,” she said about SWCC students. “You see the impact on what you are apart of. It’s not what I’ve done individually. It’s being able to do be a part of a program that makes a significant impact.”

Despite her modesty, Crittenden has made an impact on Iowa and community college education. In 2003, she received the Outstanding Chief Administrator Award from the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees. From 2001 to 2015, she was a member of the Iowa Community College Council, an advisory board to the Iowa State Board of Education. Crittenden was appointed to the Southwest Iowa STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Advisory Board by Governor Terry Branstad in 2011 and served through 2017, when she was appointed to the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. In 1999, she was appointed by Governor Tom Vilsack to serve on the Iowa 2010 Strategic Planning Council.

Southwestern’s Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management Terri Higgins, said she sees Crittenden’s goals and objectives in those honors and her every day work.

“The traits I value most in Barb are her honesty, integrity, and ultimate perfectionism. She works harder and longer than anyone else to ensure 100 percent accuracy in everything she does. She continually strives to do business and make decisions at a very high level with such poise and confidence,” she said.

Lesan also noted her desire for quality.

“She has great attention to detail. Some people would say, ‘Oh my gosh, sign it and send it.’ Everyone here gets a chance to proofread and we don’t want to send things out with errors. It’s everything from the minor things to the big contracts. That is something I got from her,” he said.

Crittenden said, during her time as president community colleges have gained more attention, respect and value as the economy and education become even more intermingled.

“Two-year schools have really matured. We have worked hard on transfer of credits to four-year schools and that has really shown as two-year schools as the first part of a four-year degree. As for vocational education, we are seeing the recognition and value of those careers. Look at the needs we have from electronics, carpentry and auto industry. There is a growing recognition of value for that,” she said.

Electricians and carpenters were needed to bring Southwestern back to life after a damaging tornado blew through campus in April 2012.

“That was terrible as we had a lot of damage. On campus late that Saturday, I would have told you it would be a year to get back on campus. But we were back in three days and that was because of Barb’s influence,” Lesan said.

Dorm buildings were damaged forcing students to stay in Creston hotel rooms.

Higgins said the tornado was a great example of how Crittenden worked, especially in important situations.

“During the time we have worked together we have had to maneuver through some extremely tedious issues that were completely out of our control. No matter the situation, I always knew she would pull the team together and we would get through even if long hours were required. Fortunately, because of her impeccable ethics, I knew once the dust had settled we would be fine no matter what we were up against,” she said.

Crittenden said the tornado emphasized the community in Southwestern Community College.

“Volunteers brought food and other support to help cleanup. Others took students to live in their homes,” she said. The tornado was just one moment between the college and the community.

Crittenden said that SWCC students return the feeling to the town as they have cleaned up a section of North Cherry Street, Uptown Creston and displayed positive, uplifting messages on Creston’s busy streets.

“Connecting kids with the community has been important. When the men’s basketball team was in the national tournament in 2017, it was a fun experience to see the community support for that. It meant a great deal to them,” she said. The team won the junior college division II championship.

“When you start out, you don’t think you’d be in the same place for almost 40 years. In this position, I wasn’t thinking how long I’d do it. It is surprising how fast it all goes.”

A public reception will be for Crittenden from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday in the Allied Health and Science Center at SWCC.