Mark Potter
City Colleges of Chicago
Dr. Mark Potter is the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at City Colleges of Chicago. In service to the seven City Colleges (Harold Washington, Harry S Truman, Kennedy-King, Malcolm X, Olive-Harvey, Richard J. Daley, and Wilbur Wright Wilbur), he leads efforts to advance student success and quality academic experiences in both credit programs and Adult Education. Dr. Potter began his career as a history professor at the University of Wyoming, and prior to his current position, he was Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has a successful record of leading teams to research, design, and implement innovative programs for engaged learning, student success, and retention.
Dr. Potter is driven by the educational mission of expanding opportunity to traditionally under-represented populations. His devotion as an academic leader is grounded in a commitment to the open-access sector, where the work of providing a pathway to educational attainment has the greatest potential to impact lives and communities. In advancing the mission of City Colleges of Chicago, Dr. Potter is able to focus his leadership on pathways to and through college so that all of Chicago’s residents can benefit from inclusive economic growth.
The Office of the Provost oversees both Academic Affairs and Information Technology.
Academic Affairs defines and leads efforts to ensure that quality academic programming aligns with City Colleges’ completion, post-completion, and equity goals. Responsible for both the academic vision and academic outcomes across the District, Academic Affairs co-creates and maintains standards and practices and leads organizational learning across the District. It also maintains the key academic systems to ensure external compliance, performance to internal KPIs, and process integrity. Academic Affairs’ leadership spans the areas of curriculum, faculty affairs, academic and student policy, workforce and career education, institutional research, adult education, and early college.
Academic Affairs prioritizes expansion of successful programs, high-quality teaching and learning, student success through improved course outcomes, and building and maintaining strong pathways to careers and transfer. The unit is composed of the following departments: Educational Quality, Academic Systems and Student Records, Adult Education, Academic Programs, Workforce Partnerships, High School Partnerships, and Decision Support.
Information Technology, led by the Chief Information Officer of City Colleges, supports student success by providing a reliable and innovative technology environment for students, faculty, and staff to improve teaching and learning and support operations. Combining Information Technology and Academic Affairs withing the Office of the Provost creates opportunities for seamless integration in the pursuit of high-quality and innovative teaching and learning.
Stacia Edwards, Ed. D.
Deputy Provost
Academic Affairs and Workforce Innovation
Stacia Edwards is the Deputy Provost for the City Colleges of Chicago. In this role, she works with faculty and administrators throughout the seven-college district to ensure academic quality and compliance, relevant degree programming, and access to supports needed for students to achieve academic success. She oversees the Adult Education program, is the primary liaison with the Chicago Public Schools, and manages the Early College program that serves approximately 6,000 students.
Dr. Edwards joined City Colleges from Columbus State Community College, where she held numerous leadership roles, most recently as the Dean of the Delaware Campus and Regional Learning Centers. Previously, she was the Vice President of BattelleEd and Director of STEM workforce Initiatives at Battelle and served as the Deputy Chancellor for Economic Advancement for the Ohio Board of Regents, where she focused on raising Ohio’s educational attainment level to meet the economic and workforce development needs of the state. Her 30 years of higher education experience also include serving as Director of the Regional Workforce Transformation Consortium at Sinclair Community College and Assistant Dean of Science and Mathematics at Wright State University.
Stacia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hanover College, a Master of Arts from Indiana University, and a Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jay Agarwal
Chief Information Officer
Peggy Korellis, Ed. D
Vice Chancellor, High School Strategy
Sarah Lichtenstein Walter
Vice Chancellor, Academic Programs
Ayoka Noelle Samuel
Associate Vice Chancellor – Technology & Business Sector Strategy
Laura Clark
Associate Vice Chancellor – Academic Systems, Records & Policy
Megan Bernard, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor – Instructional Quality & Innovation
Brittany Jackson Kairis
Associate Vice Chancellor – Decision Support
Luis Narvaez, Ed.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor – Adult Education
Explore news, announcements, blog posts, and perspectives from the Provost’s Office.
Promoting and Advancing City Colleges of Chicago Academic Mission
Learn more about key initiatives and priorities of the Office of the Provost, highlighting our commitment to student success.
The Academic Excellence Framework (AEF) intentionally prioritizes the skills, disposition, activities, initiatives, and roles that directly support superior learning experiences and student academic achievement at City Colleges of Chicago.
The AEF reflects collaborative efforts to:
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Chicago Roadmap and Roadmap 2.0
The Chicago Roadmap is an unprecedented partnership between City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools to support students along a seamless path to and through college, and on the way to their chosen careers. Roadmap 2.0 aims to increase bachelor’s degree completion for CPS students in high-wage, high-growth industries. We are creating pathways that start with Early College, move through associate degree completion at City Colleges, and continue through bachelor’s degree completion at four-year partner institutions—maintaining a seamless transfer of credits throughout the journey.
Credit for Prior Learning
Credit for Prior Learning (CPL)/Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is learning that students have done outside the classroom, including work experience, employer training, military experience, independent study or research, non-collegiate learning, professional certifications, civic activities, volunteer service, and more.
Centers of Excellence
Each City College is a comprehensive community college with a Center of Excellence in a growing field: healthcare, transportation, distribution and logistics, business and professional services, advanced manufacturing, computer science, engineering, education, construction management, culinary arts and hospitality, and information technology. Companies and universities help to align our curricula and facilities with employer demand, and give our students work-based learning opportunities as they study.
Instructional Technology
The Office of Instructional Technology develops and implements a sustainable training and support model for City Colleges users in the use of instructional technologies and to improve operational efficiency.
Adult Education
City Colleges' Adult Education program provides free English as a Second Language, free high school diploma prep, free basic computer skills, and free citizenship classes.
Employer Partnerships
City Colleges partners with local, national, and international companies to ensure students are learning cutting edge curriculum, getting career-specific skills and credentials, and have access to work-based learning opportunities.
City Colleges faculty and staff bring their expertise to our seven colleges and five satellite sites so that our students will succeed both in and out of the classroom.
Explore some of their accomplishments or share yours here.
Faculty/Staff SpotlightSeptember 5, 2024
Report Highlights Shortages of Credentials Aligned with Middle-Skills Occupations Middle-skills workers provide essential services and potentially earn high salaries, but a new report addresses impending...
July 26, 2024
On July 25, 2024, City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Juan Salgado joined Governor J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and...
July 15, 2024
Valparaiso University and City Colleges of Chicago have inked a guaranteed admissions agreement that could add more diversity at the Lutheran institution. The agreement, signed Monday...
