ICCTA Equity Award

2010 Recipient



Oakton Community College


Oakton Community College's mission statement begins with the words, "We are the community's college." As the ethnic composition of Oakton's district has changed, so has the efforts of the college to change with it.

Over the past eight years, Oakton has developed a successful strategic enrollment and marketing plan that focuses on increasing the numbers of students from previously underserved populations.


Dr. Gregory James (center) of Oakton Community College accepts ICCTA's 2010 Equity Award from ICCTA Equity Committee chair Phyllis Folarin and ICCTA vice president David Harby.

Dr. Gregory James (center) of Oakton Community College
accepts ICCTA's 2010 Equity Award from ICCTA Equity
Committee chair Phyllis Folarin and ICCTA vice president David Harby.

Outreach and mentoring activities are conducted with high school students, parents and the local ministerial alliance. As a result, spring 2010 applications from Hispanic students were up 23 percent, and applications from African-American students rose 48 percent.

To support its commitment to employing a diverse staff, Oakton redesigned its recruitment and hiring processes across campus. The college has also committed to fund anti-bias training for at least 80 percent of the faculty, staff and administration by 2012.

In addition, Oakton's board of trustees is one of the more diverse in the state. Currently the board is composed of three women (including one African-American) and four men (including one African-American and one Asian).