Biography
Dr. Mel D. Powell, SMHEC Executive Director
Dr. Mel D. Powell was named the Executive Director of the Southern Maryland higher Education Center in April of 1997. Since arriving on campus, bringing with him a solid record of 20 years in higher education administration and governmental sector leadership he has expanded The Center’s efforts to increase the number of academic programs offered at SMHEC, increased the number of classrooms and academic facilities at SMHEC, moved forward with new partnerships with universities and colleges, and engaged in initiatives in the areas of professional development for an expanding Southern Maryland technology workforce.
Dr. Powell earned his graduate degrees in the Washington DC – Baltimore corridor, including his Master of Arts degree in Governmental Administration from George Washington University, his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Baltimore and his Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland College Park.
Dr. Powell entered the Navy’s Officer Candidate School at Newport Rhode Island after earning his Bachelor’s degree at New Jersey State College, and subsequently served with the Naval Security Group attached to the staff of the Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. Following his military service and after completing his graduate studies he worked for a decade in the Washington D.C. area, initially as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Greenbelt Maryland, and subsequently as Associate Director for Contract Research at the National Association of Counties, and as Director of the Office of Research Management at the Appalachian Regional Commission.
At the National Association of Counties he solicited and administered federal grants and contracts supporting national research and educational programs based on best practices identified in field visits to successful local public service programs, leading to the development of national standards for excellence in local governance and personnel in the fields of economic development, water and air pollution, solid waste management, emergency medical services, criminal justice planning, the implementation of highway safety standards, and comprehensive health planning. Several of the contracts involved the presentation of state and regional workshops for county commissioners on the benefits of supporting national incentives for the local adoption of best practices identified in the research.
At the Appalachian Regional Commission he administered development grants to multi-county planning agencies within the Commission’s 13 state jurisdiction, leading to new economic development strategies, supporting demonstration programs designed to improve the quality of life in the Region. He also managed the Commission’s evaluation and productivity programs leading to improvements in the performance of the Agency’s economic development programs.
He then followed his interest in academic administration and was appointed as the Founding Dean of the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration at California State University Long Beach where he served for 19 years.
His leadership at Long Beach as a graduate school dean was critical to gaining funds for the creation of several academic programs serving professional scholars in the southern California public service, with a student body averaging 600 graduate students. He also created and directed a Bureau of Governmental Research within the school of public policy and administration which presented over 700 training programs, a dozen region-wide public policy institutes, and 10 western state conferences on critical public policy and governmental research issues. The Bureau’s research arm was funded by federal grants allowing faculty to pursue research projects influencing local and regional public policy decisions in the field of transportation.
His leadership efforts at Long Beach resulted in the creation of the largest graduate enrollment in a public affairs graduate degree program at a public higher education institution, while simultaneously increasing admission selectivity and the caliber of graduates.
While at Long Beach, Dr. Powell was active in leadership positions in professional societies at the local, regional, national and international level that were engaged in increasing the capacity of government administrators and improving governmental systems for the delivery of more efficient and equitable public services. These efforts helped to place the Center fourth nationally among a universe of over 220 graduate public affairs degree programs. During his tenure at Long Beach, he served as chair of programs and papers at the annual national programs for three public administration and urban affairs association conferences, with over 5,000 scholars participating.
On April 1, 1997, Dr. Powell took the helm at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center where he oversees a community of over 2,000 students and 90 academic programs. His priority of increasing SMHEC’s facilities, its academic programs and class enrollments, and operating revenue through grants from State and local area jurisdictions resulted in SMHEC recording over 2,900 class enrollments during fiscal year 2008 and the presentation of almost 300 seminars.
In service to higher education, his roles include membership on the Board of Governors of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, and as Chairman of the Association’s Working Group on Accountability, Culture and Trust in Government, responding to the need for an understanding of the causes and solutions for governmental corruption in government. At annual conferences hosted by developing nations the Working Group selects scholars from over 170 nations who present research papers on the various aspects of corruption.
Dr. Powell also serves on a Maryland Higher Education Commission Committee revising the 2009 Maryland State Plan for Higher Education, specifically working to develop goals for effectiveness and quality in higher education. In keeping with a philosophical commitment to the utilization of clear and comprehensively planned and identified learning outcomes in academic programs, he has worked for the inclusion of language in academic mission and accreditation statements that demonstrate a goal of assessing student achievement of learning outcomes incorporated into the content of academic programs demonstrated by a fluency in the use of complex data and information.
Dr. Powell is spearheading the Center’s efforts to increase graduate academic offerings at SMHEC, attracting a faculty that values the tradition of dedication to teaching as well as scholarly pursuit; enhancing the use of technology in instruction while maintaining the student-faculty connection for which graduate education is known; and responding to the changing needs of the workforce regionally.
Fundamental to any shift in access to higher education is a greater appreciation for the magnitude of change in demographics and its implications for the quality of life of citizens and the general welfare for the Region and the State.
He is committed to fostering, nurturing and improving graduate education and graduate programs that will ensure a healthy future for the Region. Graduate programs produce the “breakthrough” thinkers—creative, innovative and committed to pushing the boundaries of their fields. They train people who can understand, use and develop methodologies of inquiry and research; people able to synthesize complex information within their own field and across related fields; scholars and professionals who routinely demonstrate and exercise critical analytical judgment. And with these core skills and abilities, graduate degree-holders create new ways of understanding, allowing us to solve the complex, compelling issues of our times. To this end, over 1,100 individuals have completed their graduate degrees over the Center’s 13 year history.
He is also committed to finding the resources for important upgrades to campus facilities. He has set a goal of creating state-of-the-art laboratory and computer facilities to house the nearly 100 academic programs at the Center, meeting requirements for the support of a comprehensive range of engineering programs in support of the region’s technology community, graduate education programs to support the 5,000 teachers in the Region, and expansion of the 60,000 square feet of classrooms and laboratories with an additional 35,000 square foot classroom building.
His collaborative approach to higher education has engaged academic leaders, state legislators and administrators, local elected and administrative officials, the technology and education community and friends of the Center in planning and development for the future of the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center.