Current Position and Past Experience
Mark Curtis-Chávez is the Provost at the College of DuPage and has been in this position since 2018. He oversees both academic and student affairs as the chief academic officer and chief student affairs officer. In addition, he oversees Continuing Education, Workforce, and the performing and visual arts programs of the McAninch Arts Center. Mark has served as an administrator at Lone Star College and Cuyahoga Community College, as well as an English faculty member and faculty senator at Arizona Western College.
Mark is the first person in his family to attend college. He has taught English as an adjunct as well as a full-time professor. He has served in a variety of administrative roles at Arizona Western College, Cuyahoga Community College, Lone Star College, and College of DuPage—from division chair to dean to district office. He has overseen the development of competency-based education programs in information technology and business and a variety of new AS, AA, and AAS degrees and certificates, such as converged technology and law enforcement.
He has also been responsible for increasing enrollment at each of the institutions he has served as an administrator, leading strategic enrollment management teams at COD and LSC-CyFair. Recently, he institutionalized student success goals at COD to increase Black and Latino student success and created a needs-based scholarship for students with financial struggles.
Education, Honors and Achievements
Mark has a doctor of philosophy in higher education from the University of Toledo, a master of arts in English from Northern Illinois University, and a bachelor of arts in English from Indiana University. Mark is also an Aspen Institute 2020 – 2021 Rising Presidents Fellow.
Personal Details and Community Involvement
Mark serves on the Board of Directors of the National Community College Hispanic Council as its Secretary, and he serves on the National Alliance of Community & Technical Colleges board, as well as other organizations, such as the Education Commission of the City of Aurora, IL. He also serves as a commissioner on the American Association of Community Colleges’ Commission on Structured Pathways.
