CASE Hears You!
For an extrovert like me from the fast-talker state of New Jersey, I’ve had to work hard at being a good listener. According to Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Most people do not listen to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Yup, that’s me. But I mean well. I want to solve problems. I line up solutions in my head before the person speaking to me even finishes sharing their thoughts. Not good. So, over the past 10 months in this role, I’ve switched to decaf and focused on slowing down so I can truly listen to what CASE members from 2-year colleges need from us.
Since January, I’ve been to Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Spokane, Orlando (twice!), Baltimore, Long Island, several events in Washington, D.C., and I should be on my way to Arizona by the time you read this. To those of you in the districts I missed (including Canada), don’t worry. Your colleagues represented you well, and I promise to visit you in 2025 and beyond as my budget allows. What have I heard?
- You’re hungry for community college benchmarking data: CASE’s Voluntary Support of Education is too overwhelming for most of you to complete, and it feels like it’s focused on 4-year institutions. Solution: This will take time to develop/pilot, but I’ll work with CASE’s Insights team to create a survey that will make sure the most important VSE information is still gathered but is streamlined and asks questions specific to community colleges.
- You need more community college-focused online programming: Your budgets are tight, so more online programs would be helpful. Solution: You may have seen my poll in the CASE Community College Community asking you to rank the top 10 webinar topics. Now that I have your preferences, I’m organizing at least five webinars for FY25.
- CASE should offer more opportunities for community college grants professionals: CASE’s Federal Funding Task Force provides excellent information, but grants professionals want more opportunities to share their knowledge, especially with those new to the field. Solution: CASE is providing a one-day Community College Grants Professionals Conference on Oct. 17 at the CCCA, and in spring 2025, we will host a few webinars just for our grants professionals. Let me know if you’d like to help.
- CASE’s community college webpage needs some love! Solution: We’ve made it easier to find, and I’ve begun working with several volunteers and the CASE Marketing team to improve its content.
- Update the CASE Community: CASE’s Community (our ListServe) platform seems outdated, but the Community College and Community College Grants Communities are still good places to pose questions to colleagues. Solution: A new platform is on its way!
- You often forget the CASE Library is an excellent resource. Solution: I’ll keep reminding you! Need a sample list of foundation board member roles/responsibilities? Wondering about typical salaries for directors of development? Email [email protected] and/or surf around our Library’s website.
- Hooray! The Conference for Community College Advancement is moving around the U.S.! Join us in Baltimore Oct. 16-18, and we’ll host it in Central U.S. in 2025 and back to the West Coast in 2026.
That’s a big to-do list, and I’m especially grateful to the Center for Community College Advancement Advisory Committee members for their assistance as I address each item. Feel free to reach out to me if I missed anything and I’ll add it to the list!
Enjoy your summer—
Meg
About the author(s)
Meg Natter joined CASE in 2023 and serves as Director of Community Colleges and Foundations within the Membership, Engagement, and Volunteerism division. For over 20 years, Meg worked at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, U.S., in several leadership roles, including Dean of its Humanities Institute, Assistant Professor in the English and Women’s & Gender Studies departments, and Executive Director of the college’s foundation. Her advancement career includes five years as Senior Development Officer at Ocean Medical Center in New Jersey, where she focused on major gifts, and she earned the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential for six years.
In her role at CASE, Meg collaborates with the members of the Community College Leadership Committee to address the needs of community college advancement professionals as well as the College and University Foundations Leadership Committee to focus on programming for CASE members who manage foundations. Meg is a CASE@Campus instructor specializing in creating a culture of philanthropy at community colleges, and is one of the CASE staff members leading the annual Conference for Community College Advancement, the Conference for College and University Foundations, and the Federal Funding Task Force meetings.