File Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado
AURORA | Betsy is back at CCA.
Former Community College of Aurora President Betsy Oudenhoven is returning in January to head the Community College of Aurora as the school looks for a new president.
Current CCA president Mordecai Brownlee will leave the school at the end of the year to take a position with Colorado State University.
Colorado Community College System Chancellor Marielena DeSanctis announced Oudenhoven’s appointment this week as a search for the school’s seventh president continues.
Oudenhoven has a long history with CCA. She previously served as the school’s fifth president from 2013 to 2021. She joined the college in 2011 as vice president of student affairs and was even named president emeritus earlier this year in recognition of her contributions to the institution.
Her previous tenure included several significant developments for the college, including efforts to increase Latinx enrollment that helped CCA achieve Hispanic Serving Institution status in 2016.
She also helped secure state funding for the college’s Center for Engineering and Applied Technology and worked with the CCA Foundation and the city of Aurora to secure college ownership of the CentreTech campus.
Her administration also guided the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, the college received the American Association of Community Colleges’ Advancing Diversity Award for its workforce diversity initiatives.
Oudenhoven brings more than 40 years of higher education experience to the interim position. She holds a doctorate in higher education from Loyola University Chicago, a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Colorado Boulder and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Lawrence University.
“CCA has always held a special place in my heart,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to reconnecting with CCA’s faculty, instructors, staff, students and community partners and supporting the important work already underway.”