"That area is becoming the Silicon Valley of the East. I'm going up there to continue to build on the successes already achieved. One of the challenges is meeting the training needs of the business community."
Like many of her colleagues, Wheelan began her academic career in a different direction from higher education administration.
"I was going to be a child psychologist."
Unforeseen circumstances led her to a teaching job at San Antonio College, where she first learned about the Community College Leadership program at the University of Texas-Austin. Attending the program gave her a road map to administration.
"I went from faculty to president in seven years."
Today, Wheelan is committed to the community college mission of providing an education to everyone who wants one. Toward that end, she demands nothing less of the people who work for her.
"We hire people who are dedicated to the proposition that everybody can learn and has a right to learn. Regardless of their position, they have got to buy into that."
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