Bev Cummins is the vice president of student affairs and the Lincoln campus director at Southeast Community College.
Tell us a little about your business. – Southeast Community College (SCC, www.southeast.edu) serves the communities of a 15-county area in Southeast Nebraska, with three campuses in Beatrice, Lincoln, and Milford and six Learning Centers in Wahoo, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, Falls City, Hebron, and York. With an annual enrollment nearing 13,000 students, the college offers nearly 60 programs of study as well as a strong continuing education and personal enrichment courses for the members of our communities.
How did you get started in the business? – I am a first-generation college student and SCC created an opportunity for me I never imagined. I graduated from SCC in the Radiologic Technology program. After working as a medical radiographer in a Lincoln hospital and assisting with clinical instruction for rotating students from the program, I found a passion for teaching. I became an instructor in the program at SCC and eventually the program chair, serving the program for 15 years. I transitioned to dean of continuing education and, after five years as dean, landed where I am now.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally? – Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the director of the Lincoln campus, it was my responsibility to ensure we worked with each and every department and division on campus to determine what it was they needed for a safe return, in addition to working with the wonderful people at Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department to create our COVID-19 protocols and mitigation practices. With every challenge comes the opportunity for growth and I appreciate how much we have learned along the way and how amazed I am of the resilience of our employees and students who faced their own fears and hesitancy of returning to campus and continued to do the important work of teaching and learning.
Tell us a little about your family. – My husband Chris and I have a blended family, with Chris’s two grown sons starting their own lives and my two children in high school. I’m working on my doctorate in Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and could potentially be completing my college education as my youngest begins hers. They have been so incredibly supportive in giving me “homework time” and can’t wait to call me “Dr. Mom.”
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Impactful. I would not be the person or in the position I am today were it not for SCC. I want to give to others what I have been given. My professional mission is to create a campus environment and service mindset that focuses on empowering and transforming students, opening doors for them they may never have considered possible, and providing the path toward their future successes.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – The last one I’ve read was Think Again by Adam Grant. As an organizational psychologist, Grant talks about “thinking like a scientist” and developing curiosity in our lives to move from a place of hardened and entrenched views to one where we begin to see the world around us through multiple perspectives. This resonates with the culture we’re creating at SCC.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Nelson Mandela. He’s the one who said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – (402) 437-2554; bcummins@southeast.edu; www.southeast.edu.