Arizona Western College’s former president Daniel Corr is spotlighted for reshaping how a community college responds to urgent employer demand. Corr’s “Entrepreneurial College” model streamlined approvals, adjusted compensation structures to recruit industry experts, and centralized decisions so training could be delivered on the speed employers expect. The approach began with a governor’s office request to rapidly prepare fiber optic technicians for broadband expansion in La Paz County. Corr’s team developed a semi-autonomous arm that could launch credit and noncredit programs with flexible tuition and accelerated timelines, then scaled through partnerships with hundreds of employers. The reporting frames the effort as a governance and operating-model reset rather than a curriculum tweak, with Corr describing a shift away from “things because they’ve always been done that way.” For higher education leaders focused on enrollment, employment outcomes, and employer partnerships, the case offers a concrete template for how institutions may redesign authority, funding, and program launch speed to meet labor-market strain.
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