AURORA | Community College of Aurora officials announced Tuesday that Betsy Oudenhoven is the new permanent president of the college, following a five-month stint as interim president.

Oudenhoven took the position of interim president in July after the sudden resignation of Alton Scales. Scales had served less than a year as president. Colorado Community College System President Nancy McCallin officially appointed Oudenhoven to her new post as permanent president.

Oudenjoven, Betsy[1]

“I actually have never had aspirations to be a president,” said Oudenhoven, who started at CCA as vice president for student affairs in 2011. “Sometimes, professionally, opportunities come along that you don’t necessarily have in the game plan.”

Oudenhoven said her priorities include working on a new master plan for the college, improving access to services for students and addressing the achievement gap. She will also focus on improving student success. At a community college, that can mean making sure students receive degrees, transfer to four-year institutions or learn English.

“We want to make sure that they want to be successful in their goals,” Oudenhoven said. “Overall, that’s really the focus for everything that we do … Retaining our students and helping them to get where they want to be.”

Oudenhoven added that she wants to make connections in the larger community. She’s bought a home in Aurora, and she sees inspiration in the example of Linda Bowman, the former CCA president who hired Oudenhoven and left for a post at the University of Denver’s Morgridge College of Education in 2011.

“I consider her a really important mentor,” Oudenhoven said. “I can’t think of anyplace else I would want to do this. I’m just really appreciative. I’m glad this day has come.”

Oudenhoven, a former administrator at the Joliet Junior College in Illinois, studied English language learning at community colleges. She received her master’s in counseling and guidance from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has a Ph.D. in higher education from Loyola University Chicago and a bachelor’s of science in psychology from St. Lawrence University in New York.