Owens Findlay Campus Dean Among Leadership Academy Graduates

(From Owens Community College)

Owens Community College Findlay-area Campus Dean Brad Wood was among the 35 graduates in the most recent Ohio Leadership Academy for Student Success class.

The academy, sponsored by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, annually gathers faculty and staff for a year of training, exchanging ideas and immersion in promoting student success.

The OACC created the academy in 2019 to reverse management turnover by strengthening internal advancement pipelines within the state’s 23 community colleges. Michigan, New York and Texas are among the states replicating Ohio’s initiative.

“The past year has provided a meaningful and positive professional development experience with colleagues from around the state,” Wood said. “We shared practical experiences that can be adapted to our daily work. We all want our students to succeed and achieve their high education goals.”

Wood was named to his current position in January 2023 after previously serving as chair of the Owens Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, where he worked for seven years.

A community college graduate, Wood earned his associate degree in PTA from St. Petersburg College. He graduated from Nova Southeastern University with his bachelor’s in Health Science and master’s in Teaching and Learning. He serves on the State of Ohio Physical Therapy Association advisory board. He is a national commissioner for CAPTE Commission of Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education and president of the Northwest Ohio Clinical Coordinator Consortium.

Wood is the seventh Owens employee to complete the academy cohort since 2020-21.

The academy is an outreach of work done by the OACC’s Success Center for Community Colleges. Created in 2012, the center focuses on helping Ohio’s two-year colleges marshal resources to better direct students’ education by aligning their academic choices with the careers they hope to undertake. The academy was funded by several national organizations, ensuring that colleges had minimal expenses to participate.

The OACC represents the presidents and trustees of the state’s 23 public two-year institutions that work to advance community colleges through policy advocacy and professional development.