Name and office sought
Linda Hoskins Sutton
Kansas City Kansas Community College Board of Trustees
Age: 68
Occupation and experience:
I retired from Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2014 with 30 years of service. I was professional Assistant-Bookkeeper in the Business Office, Coordinator of Community Education and when I retired, I was Director of Student Activities. During my full-time employment at KCKCC, I was also adjunct faculty some semesters.
Education:
1.Associate in Business
2.Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management
3.Masters of Business Administration
Organizations, clubs, groups to which you belong:
- Member of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
- Past member of KCK Women’s Chamber of Commerce
- Past board member of People to People International
Reasons for running:
As a current Trustee serving my first 4-year term, I want to continue serving students, employees and the community thru diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We are in the middle of building student housing and I want to see that completed as well as other initiatives that are in progress by KCKCC Board of Trustees.
What are the three most important issues facing this position and how would you handle them?
The most important issue facing KCKCC is restoring full accreditation from Higher Learning Commission (HLC.) There are employees working on this and it takes the whole College. As a Trustee, my role is to stay updated monthly on the progress of the report for the site visit in Spring of 2022. This deficiency at the college with HLC did not happen overnight. However, as Trustees, we must make sure this never happens to KCKCC again.
I will not list any other issues because of the high importance of HLC. Without full accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), no other issues matter for KCKCC.
If you are an incumbent, list your top accomplishments in office. If you are not an incumbent, what would you change if elected?
As an incumbent on the Board of Trustees at KCKCC some of the things we have accomplished and I say we because we work as a unit. We have an individual voice and vote but no individual authority.
1.The most important accomplishment was hiring a new president for KCKCC (2018).
2. Reopening the Childcare Center
3. Opened a Veterans Center on Main Campus
4. GED partnership on-site with University of Kansas Health System.
5. Class offerings at Wyandotte High School.
6. The college was a leader in handling the Covid-19 pandemic with protocols that allowed KCKCC to continue serving students and keep employees whole.
Have you run for elected office previously? When, results?
Yes, in 2017, there were seven of us running for three seats on KCKCC’S Board of Trustees. I was one of the top three with the highest number of votes. Thus I’m serving my first 4-year term.