Front Range Community College President Andy Dorsey is retiring at the end of June 2022 after a 29-year career with FRCC and serving as president for 13 years.
Dorsey headed the state’s largest community college with over 28,000 students annually with campuses in Longmont, Westminster and Fort Collins. There is also a FRCC center in Brighton.
Dorsey came to FRCC in 1993 as a part-time faculty member in psychology and then in 1996 became the first full-time faculty member hired for the original Longmont campus, according to a news release from the Colorado Community College System..
“When I started as an instructor in 1993, I never expected to have such a long career at Front Range,” said Dorsey, 64, in an email. “I feel very lucky and blessed to have found a place with so many passionate, smart people dedicated to making a difference in students’ lives. I appreciate everything my colleagues do every day to make this a great college.”
Colorado Community College System Chancellor Joe Garcia said Dorsey will be missed both on and off campus. “Andy has been an incredible asset to the college, to its students, and to the community. We are grateful for all he has done in particular for his devotion to improving the learning environment for students through student services, capital improvements and new academic programs.”
Under Dorsey’s leadership, FRCC has been recognized as one of the top community colleges nationally for success of students who transfer to four-year colleges and for success in online learning. Dorsey has also been instrumental in promoting partnerships with business and industry, including over a dozen new degree or certificate programs and the opening of the state-of-the-art Center for Integrated Manufacturing in Longmont and construction of the Health Care Careers Center in Fort Collins, according to the CCCS news release.
His other accomplishments, the news release states, include:
- Developing a collegewide philosophy of inclusion that included creating an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Council and hiring the first Executive Director of Equity and Inclusion.
- Creating a variety of new supports for teaching excellence, including instructional coach positions designed to support instructors and faculty, collegewide student learning outcomes, and a teaching development program for part-time instructors that has trained over 350 instructors.
- Major renovations at each campus to provide a better learning environment for students.
CCCS will announce plans to find a replacement for Dorsey, including how the community can participate, in the coming weeks.
Dorsey said there is still plenty to do during his final tenure at FRCC. “I have many more months of work ahead, and I look forward to continuing to help guide the challenge and engage with our employees and our students during that time,” he said.
