Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC), a Maricopa Community College, is pleased to announce that Dr. Debbie Kushibab has been selected as EMCC's new vice president of student affairs. Dr. Kushibab will begin her new role, January 2, 2008.
Kushibab began her career at the Maricopa Community College District in 1989. Since then, she has worked at three colleges: GateWay Community College, Scottsdale Community College and Phoenix College. Student affairs leadership positions that she has held include, the dean of students at Phoenix College, associate dean of students at GateWay Community College and associate dean of students at Scottsdale Community College.
She earned her associate's degree at Glendale Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Arizona State University, a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Arizona State University. In 2003, Kushibab received the Excellence in Research Award from Arizona State University for her dissertation titled, Applied Policy Analysis of Staff Development in Student Affairs. Findings from her research led to the development of the Maricopa Community College District's (MCCCD) Student Services Institute (SSI). Debbie has been the SSI Director since its inception in 2003 and is passionate about the professional development of MCCCD's student affairs employees.
Active in student affairs professional organizations, Debbie currently serves as a member of NASPA's (student affairs administrators in higher education) Community and Two-Year Colleges Advisory Board. On the local level, she is a senior advisor for the Arizona NASPA executive board. In 2004, she served as NASPA's Senior Fellow and was instrumental in creating a Student Services Institute model for the organization as a means of delivering professional development programs directly to community colleges. Debbie authored an article titled, Developing Student Affairs Professionals: A Community College Perspective, in Leadership Exchange (2005). In 2007, she contributed a chapter titled Community College Mid-level Managers: Lessons from the research in the book, The Mid-level Manager in Student Affairs, edited by Robert Ackerman. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member for Northern Arizona University where she teaches community college and student affairs courses for the MEd program.
Debbie has served on City of Phoenix bond committees, central village planning, light rail task force, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. She has also been involved with civic groups such as the Van Buren Civic Association and Scottsdale Airpark Rotary.