Episode Details
The guest of episode 08 is Dr. Dione Somerville, President of Owens Community College. She juggles multiple priorities and wears many hats to be successful in her leadership role.
Highlights
Looking for specific advice? Below is a list of the questions asked to Dr. Dione Dorsey Somerville as well as the time where you can find them in the video posted above.
- Introduction
- 3:50 | What is your definition of a successful organization?
- 4:39 | Why does education matter?
- 9:10 | From an organization, what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced? How did you overcome those?
- 11:38 | How do you go about changing a bad culture? How do you take a decent culture to the next level?
- 16:39 | For your leaders today, what are some of the biggest pitfalls they experience? What suggestions do you have?
- 18:55 | What does a top performer look like in your organization?
- 21:34 | What type of advice do you have for the next generation?
Key Takeaways
When all else fails, culture is the defining factor in how you move forward. Being able to shape and grow that culture is one of the most challenging tasks.
If someone has a good feeling and a good impression then they are more likely to feel good about the organization as a whole.
Sometimes we get bog downed
We don’t spend time looking around to look at best practices or continued learning. There may be other ideas or action items that we can borrow from other organizations to make us better.
Discussion Questions
Take a few minutes to reflect on what you’ve heard and create some actionable next steps items. Below are a few questions based on the episode to help get you started on your speed mentorship journey.
- Where are you getting 'bogged' down? How can you expand your ideas or actions to help your organization grow?
- What have you done lately to leave a good impression or make other feel good about your organization?
About the Mentor
Dr. Dione Dorsey Somerville is a senior leader in higher education. She was appointed by the Board of Trustees as the eighth president of Owens Community College. Her professional accomplishments span strategic planning, managing complex budgets, enrollment management, campus planning and construction, community relations and fundraising.
Prior to Owens Community College, Dr. Somerville’s has prior administration experience at:
- Hawkeye Community College in Iowa, as Executive Vice President
- Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, as Vice President for Student Affairs
- Iowa State University, as Dean of Students
- Lorain County Community College in Ohio, as Director of Enrollment Services and Registrar
A first-generation college student, Dr. Somerville sought opportunities to gain economic and social mobility through education. She truly values the transformative power of higher education for each individual student and for the overall quality of life in our region.
Serving as President at Owens Community College is like a homecoming for Dr. Somerville, as she has several connections to the region where her higher education career began. She is serving on the boards for the Regional Growth Partnership, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Findlay-Hancock Raise the Bar.
She served her graduate assistantship at the University of Findlay and earned her doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated with her master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and her bachelor’s degree in English and Writing from Ohio Northern University.
Owens and northwest Ohio is truly a place that she calls home.
