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In this episode of In The Margins, we sit down with Dr. Michael Baston, President of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and recipient of the 2026 The EDU Ledger Champions Award, for a timely conversation on leadership, student success, and the future of community colleges.
Drawing from his journey as a first-generation college student and former public interest attorney, Baston reflects on how personal experience shaped his commitment to building institutions that don’t leave students to “figure it out” on their own. He shares how community colleges serve as powerful engines of opportunity, particularly for working, adult, and underserved learners navigating complex life demands alongside their education.
The conversation, with host David Pluviose, explores how institutional design, not just intention, drives student outcomes. From rethinking enrollment and retention strategies to embedding support directly into academic pathways, Baston outlines a bold, systems-level approach to improving completion, scaling support, and aligning education with workforce realities.
He also challenges leaders to move beyond performative partnerships and toward outcome-driven collaborations with K–12 systems, employers, and transfer institutions, which ensure students are supported from entry through career.
This conversation is a call for intentional leadership: building culture first, designing systems around real student needs, and creating pathways that turn access into lasting opportunity.
