Tom Weegar

Background

About Tom Weegar

Tom Weegar is an entrepreneurial educational thought leader who has a passion for the transformational power of post-secondary education. Time and time again, he has watched students change their life circumstances through post-secondary education. Tom is a transformational educational leader who has implemented exciting change initiatives such as an Indigenizing the College initiative which resulted in an increase in Indigenous students and the establishing of an Elders-in-Residence program, a Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) Plan which resulted in two consecutive years of 100% enrolment in all ABE and Technical programs (a third full-enrolment year was missed by only a couple of students), and a New Program Development initiative which reached out to students, faculty, and staff to identify unique and innovative programs to move forward on. Tom loves working collaboratively with faculty and staff to identify and implement transformational change initiatives. Tom is also passionate about working with Indigenous communities to provide the educational services they need to reach their goals and dreams. His Indigenous friends and colleagues consider him an Indigenous ally as he works to support Indigenous communities in a variety of ways. Having researched Appreciative Leadership in education for his doctoral program at UBC in Vancouver, Tom now considers himself an Appreciative Leader in education, first and foremost. As an Appreciative Leader in education, Tom takes a strengths-based, entrepreneurial approach to his educational leadership, continually looking for opportunities and partnerships to assist the students and communities with whom he works. Tom is currently working on a book about Appreciative Leadership in education ("We Don't Need Another Hero!") and undertakes workshops for post-secondary audiences and Indigenous communities on Appreciative Leadership, strategic planning and development, and educational issues.