Walter McCollum, Ph.D.

Chancellor

Ivy Tech Community College, Richmond Campus

Dr. Walter McCollum (Fulbright Scholar) was named Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College Richmond Campus in December 2021. Prior to his chancellorship, Dr. McCollum was appointed Campus Vice President of Miami Dade College Online in June 2020, after previously serving as Dean of Student Affairs at Walden University. He has worked in higher education for over 15 years at community colleges, 4-year institutions, and online non-traditional universities. As a professor of 12 years, he chaired and served on over 100 dissertation committees across multiple disciplines to include, but not limited to, business, psychology, education, public policy, management, and leadership. His book “How to Use Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence to Mentor Doctoral Learners: Best Practices and Tools to Help Mentors and Doctoral Learners Navigate the Dissertation Process” was reviewed and adopted by Kansas State University which published the book review in Adult Learning Journal. He worked for top multinational corporations for 14 years as a senior leader in change management, organizational development, quality management, and process improvement. Prior to his corporate experience, Dr. McCollum served 13 ½ years in the United States Air Force (Desert Storm Veteran) both abroad and stateside in Information Management and Communication specialties.

As Dean of Student Affairs for over 50,000 students, he has oversight of Student Conduct, Military Services, Disability Services, Alumni Affairs, Student Activities/Student Organizations, OMBUDS, and Student Counseling Services. Dr. McCollum serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and Higher Learning Commission Persistence & Completion Academy to ensure the institution fosters an environment that is diverse and inclusive at all levels across the institution, and are identifying programs, projects and practices that will garner student retention long term results. His leadership is the result of many “firsts”. In 2017, he spearheaded the establishment of a groundbreaking Divine Nine Alliance (DNA), the first online Black Greek Letter student organization in higher education, where all the divine nine Black fraternities and sororities collaborate to support the institution’s mission on positive social change. In 2018, he established a partnership with The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), the largest leadership organization in the United States, and increased membership by 13,000 within three months of chapter launch. As a result, Walden University had largest induction in NSLS’s 20-year history. In 2019, he spearheaded the establishment of the first digital Fulbright chapter in the 42-year history of Fulbright, providing broader national and international access for Fulbright scholars to connect minds and hearts for global change. Dr. McCollum serves on the board of directors for both The National Society of Leadership and Success and Fulbright Association, National Capital Area Chapter.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. McCollum he recently completed a Fulbright grant with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Amman Jordan, to evaluate the selection and evaluation processes for hiring university presidents in public universities in Jordan. He also designed/developed/automated rubrics for the search and evaluation processes and provided recommendations for the academic congressional mandate for hiring university presidents in the Kingdom of Jordan. Last year, he built a primary school in Haiti (with 208 students in the inaugural class/50 percent boys and 50 percent girls) to improve literacy and gender inequality and reduce poverty.