Dr. Nicholas Spezza Email & Phone Number

Fort Collins, Co, Us

Colorado, United States

Provide collaborative leadership, strategic planning, and program development and implementation to a broad scope of areas. Support a leadership team of experienced administrators, which includes an assistant vice president and several executive directors and their teams. These areas include innovation, The Office of the Future of Work, academic affairs, workforce development, continuing education, high school programs, library services, tutoring, three satellite campuses, and the faculty teaching and learning center. Aims Community College (ACC) serves over 8,000 students and is a Hispanic Serving Institution with seven locations across the front range. Key Accomplishments - Leading the planning, development, and implementation of the Aims Workforce Innovation Center, a $25.5M facility for innovation programming and new business incubation - Chairing (inaugural) a regional coordinating effort across Northern Colorado, NOCO Works, with a steering committee of 26 members which includes: 3 cities, 3 chambers of commerce, 2 counties, 2 workforce development boards, 5 sector partnerships, 7 educational partners in K-12 and higher education, 2 foundations, and 2 non profit entities. - Presented at the 2023 annual conference of the National Council for Workforce Education sharing the key regional work teams of Economic Inclusion, Talent Pipeline, Business Resources, Training and Development, Work Based Learning, and eliminating External Barriers. NOCO Works has several hundred participants working together to coordinate and improve our regional economy.

Fort Collins, Colorado

Provided positive executive and strategic leadership for campus- and college-wide activities including equity and diversity, academic planning, coordination and assessment of curriculum and instruction, recruitment and evaluation of faculty and staff, professional development, budgeting, management and allocation of funds, and the development and use of facilities. Front Range Community College (FRCC) serves over 20,000 students and is the largest of the 13 Colorado Community College System schools.Key Accomplishments - Created and developed the first in the nation Associates of Applied Science in Highway Maintenance Management Degree (HWY). - Collaborated with many internal and external partners to lead the creation, gain approvals, implement the program, and continue development of HWY. - Collaboration with online learning for the development of the program and the Introduction to Highway Maintenance Management Course – the program is designed to be completed fully online and is accessible to students across the country. An accessibility review was conducted to improve access to all students including those who do not have regular online access. - Development of multiple prior learning assessment options for industry credentials such as commercial drivers licenses, heavy equipment operators credentials, traffic safety training, and others. - The creation of two FRCC foundation scholarships to support HWY students.

Houston, Texas

Responsible for the instructional design and teaching of the Executive Leadership course for the Executive MBA at Prairie View A&M, the first historically Black, state supported college in Texas.

Homestead, Florida

As the academic and student services officer for Homestead Campus, reporting directly to the president, I provided positive executive and strategic leadership regarding academic, personnel, curricular, and budgetary decisions to further the academic, programmatic, and scholarly mission of the institution in its service to the community. MDC is the largest college in the Florida College System with over 100,000 students. It is among the most diverse institutions in the nation. There are 167 nations and 63 languages represented in its student body. Key Accomplishments - Co-host of “Working Toward Justice for All” Held a justice forum addressing inequality and improving the criminal justice system. - Drones Up Collaborated on and led the development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program with the EIG-Watson School of Aviation, The Idea Center (MDC’s Innovation Center), and the MDC Foundation. We received a $25K donation from AT&T to develop this program. - Strategic Improvements for Students in STEM (SIS-STEM) Launched the SIS-STEM project which is designed to improve student success in “gatekeeper” science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. SIS-STEM offers a technology-rich Integrated Learning Center that delivers mandatory tutoring, advising, student success workshops, and career-exploration presentations. - Enrollment Management Led the creation of a campus-wide enrollment management team keeping the campus in the top three college enrollments, within MDC, during my tenure.

Cypress, Texas

As a principal academic and budgetary officer I provided positive leadership regarding academic personnel, curricular, and budgetary decisions that furthered the academic, programmatic, and scholarly mission of the institution in its service to the community. Lone Star College (LSC) is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area with over 80,000 students. Key Accomplishments - Co-chaired the Strategic Recruitment and Enrollment Management committee. - Yearly campus enrollment growth increased during my tenure. - Created a new logistics degree program. Collaborated and led the development of a new logistics program in partnership with local industry partners such as Sandbox and other oil service industry providers. Redesigned the business curriculum to reflect stackable credentials and the degree. This design became a statewide model for business program review. - Responsible for the growth and management of concurrent enrollment programs.

Cleveland, Ohio

Doctor of ManagementMandel Center Non-Profit FellowPublications and Presentations• Mixed Methods Presentation, The Inference Process in Mixed Methods Research, Case Western Reserve University (Spring 2012)• Appreciative Inquiry Presentation, Biomimicry, Case Western Reserve University (Spring 2012)• Ethics in Hiring - Ethical Implications in Hiring Preferences for Internal Candidates vs. External Candidates, Case Western Reserve University (Fall 2011)• Collective Action, The Managers Dilemma, Case Western Reserve University (Spring 2011)• Systemic Vulnerability and the Origins of Developmental States: Northeast and Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective, Case Western Reserve University (Spring 2011)• Do Origins Matter to Academic Leaders? Original Research Presentation, Case Western Reserve University (Summer 2011)• Leading Change: The Case of Coach Bobby Knight vs. Coach Mike Krzyzewski from the TEAM Level with Deirdre Dixon, Larry Griffith and Donna Haeger – Case Western Reserve University (Fall 2010)

Albuquerque, New Mexico

CNM is the largest higher education institution in New Mexico in terms of undergraduate enrollment. It ranks first for the number of associate degrees and certificates earned by Indigenous people and ranks in the top five for associate degrees and certificates earned by Hispanics. As dean of the school with the most sought after programs in the college, I provided executive leadership to an educational division with over 250 full- and part-time employees, an $8 million budget, and 30 degree and certificate programs that attracted nearly 8,500 declared majors. I supported the shared governance structures of this union environment with both faculty and staff unions.Key Accomplishments - Presented at the Latin American Network in Government and Public Policy: Developing a Mentoring Culture. - Oversaw the transition of the Paramedic Certificate program to an associate degree. - Developed 21 new alternate educational pathways for students interested in health care careers. - Led the development of educational and training programs to create available pathways into health sciences fields. - Led the development of a Community Health Worker (Promotora) program. This program was funded by the Con Alma grant to serve all ethnic groups in urban, rural, and frontier settings around the state. - Supported the development of a Patient Care Tech certificate program, which was a combined Certified Nursing Assistant and Medical Assistant certificate.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Responsible for the leadership of a system of multidisciplinary, multi-site programs focused on maintaining and improving the health, wellness, and safety of the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) students and staff. UNM is a top tier research university and a minority serving institution with over 24,000 students across multiple campuses.Key Accomplishments - Provided high quality and value added health education programs to a diverse staff and student population through a multidisciplinary portfolio of health, wellness, and safety programs including exercise physiology, lifestyle coaching, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the automated external defibrillator program, stress management, and nutrition, fitness and activity programming through courses, professional presentations, newsletters, testing, and health fairs. - Process owner for a university-wide and cabinet sponsored rapid redesign initiative focusing on effectively maximizing the system of health and wellness programs, services, and offerings to support the creation and development of a culture of wellness on campus. - Presented at a national conference for the Center for Disease Control. - Mentored faculty and staff research and professional presentations at local and national venues. - Collaborated with university departments, community members, and local and state agencies including the New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Wellness Coalition on new initiatives and ongoing programs. - Established and implemented operating budgets and accounting processes for the division and designed systems and processes to establish and maintain records. - Recommended and participated in the development of university policies and procedures; serving on university-wide planning and policy making committees.

Doctor Of Management

Activities and Societies: Mandel Non-Profit Fellow

Bs, Biology

Executive Mba