After 28 years of supporting Clark College students, Miles Jackson, the interim associate vice president of instruction, will retire at the end of the 2022 spring quarter.
Jackson started his time at Clark in 1995 as an adjunct professor in the psychology department and soon earned tenure. In 2007, Clark promoted Jackson to dean of social sciences and fine arts, a position he held until April 2021 when asked to step into his current role.
In March 2022, Clark College President Dr. Karin Edwards appointed Jackson to fill in as interim vice president of instruction temporarily while the permanent vice president, Paul Wickline, recovered from a heart attack.
While attending grad school training to be a research psychologist, Jackson started teaching at various community colleges and fell in love with the community college ethos.
Jackson saw the near universal acceptance rate and the diverse campuses as a step in a more equitable direction compared to the universities he previously taught at.
“I really liked the diversity of the community college student population, the different ages and socio-economic groups,” said Jackson. “It’s a first, second, third, fourth and 11th chance for people in our community to get an education and to reach their career goals and so that’s why I’m here.”
During his time at Clark, Jackson worked to create more inclusive and equitable access to the college and its resources for all students.
Jackson was integral in implementing the Culturally Sustaining Teaching and Learning Praxis Initiative, which provides professional development training to create culturally competent, inclusive and equitable teaching practices.
“Let’s design instruction so that it’s recognizing and honoring experiences of students in non-dominant groups and then drawing upon their strengths,” Jackson said.
Jackson’s last day at the college will be June 30.
