Long story short
According to LSC, Dempsey has 25 years of experience in higher education, including work as:
- A part-time biology instructor
- Administrative and instructional positions at Dallas College
- Vice president of instruction at LSC-CyFair
- Interim president of LSC-UP
Dempsey's appointment follows the departure of former LSC-UP president Virginia Fraire in June. Fraire, who began her stint as LSC-UP president in October 2023, succeeded Shah Ardalan who had served as LSC-UP president since the college's creation.
In an interview with Community Impact, Dempsey discussed his experience learning and working at community colleges, LSC-UP programs and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What made you interested in serving as president of LSC-UP?
I'm a community college graduate, so I've seen the value of being a community college student. ... So I know it's a great place to learn. It's a great place to teach, and my history, my employment history, has always been with community colleges. So I learned a lot. ... I think I was just ready for that next level, that next challenge—to become a president.
... I have to tell you, from day one, this campus, this community, everything from the support staff to the faculty, it [has] felt like a very natural and good fit. ...
What are your short- and long-term priorities for LSC-UP?
There's amazing work being done here at University Park. So there's a phrase that I've heard a lot since I got here, is that "Lone Star College-University Park is not a problem in need of a solution." So I think it really establishes the fact that I need to be a steward of the good work that's already being done here. ... That makes my short-term goals really easy. I do want to make sure that I connect with our community so all of the readers out there know that we're here for them.
... I really want to align University Park’s campus with some of the efforts that are being done at the state level to prioritize employment. So ... if our true mission at the community college level is to enhance lives, and we know that one of the ways that we can do that [is] through gainful employment, then I think it's my responsibility as the president to make sure that I connect those two entities—local business and industry—with the output. ... Your next employee is walking across my stage in May.
LSC-UP has recently debuted a new artificial intelligence associates degree and paralegal program. Do you have any plans to bring additional degrees/pathways to LSC-UP in the future?
University Park is known as the campus of innovation, and so I would expect to see some more innovative degree plans. Right now, we know that the state of Texas is prioritizing credentials of value, so I think we have to do a deeper analysis of what those credentials of value are. The other thing is to align those with what our community needs.
So there are no immediate plans for expansion, but I think being the campus of innovation, I'd be hard pressed to say that we wouldn't. ...
LSC-UP also recently opened a care center in partnership with Houston Food Bank and the American Heart Association. Why are resources like this important, and could more resources to help struggling students be added one day?
One of the things that we know about learning is that the holistic care of students is so important. Students that are facing ... challenges other than academic ones, they need holistic care. ... So that when you're focusing on math, you're focusing on math—you're not focusing about where that next meal is coming from, or whether or not you're going to have formula for your child. So there's a really important effort.
As far as expansion of that idea, I think right now, we're learning how to process the requests that are coming in. I know that we're also working with our system to make sure that we have electronic devices [for students.]
Hannah Brol contributed to this report.
