Heartland Community College names Jessica Pickel Dean of Students

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[September 26, 2023]    Heartland Community College has named Jessica Pickel as the next Dean of Students at the institution.

The Dean of Students serves as the authority for student conduct and student appeals at the College. The position also is responsible for providing leadership and oversight for student success focused programming, including Success Education, Success Connections, Early Alert, and Academic Standing programs.

Pickel comes to Heartland from Richland Community College in Decatur, IL, where she most recently held the position of Executive Dean of Academics and Liberal Arts. In this role, she oversaw academic programming, dual credit, and other college initiatives. She previously held the position of Assistant to the Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at the University of Illinois Springfield and served as Director of Adult Education at Richland Community College.

While she has worked primarily in academics for the past five years, Pickel says she is excited to return to student affairs as the Dean of Students at Heartland Community College.

“My interest in and commitment to the community colleges mission grew as a result of a graduate assistantship with the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an advising internship at Richland Community College,” said Pickel. “I am also well-acquainted with the value and impact of a community college education. My mother changed our family’s trajectory after completing an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1993. And my father took advantage of English as Second Language courses and continuing education to advance in his industrial maintenance career.”

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A current doctoral candidate at Northern Illinois University, Pickel also holds a Master of Education Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She serves her local community as a board member for the Centro for Hispanic and Immigrant Community Opportunities and as a Macon County CASA.

Pickel begins at Heartland Community College on October 16. She fills a vacancy that will be created by the retirement of current Dean of Students Kim Kelly.

[Steve Fast
Assistant to the President, Public Information and Communication
Heartland Community College]

 

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