Ruckel joins Aims board

Coming out of retirement for a position in higher education, Fort Lupton resident and former Weld Re-8 administrator Carol Ruckel joins the Aims Community College Board of Trustees as their newest member.

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Carol Ruckel

    Ruckel served the Re-8 district overseeing the 2006 Teacher Incentive Fund grant, where she directed a five-year, $3.6 million federal grant program to design and implement performance pay for teachers. Prior to that she worked for Denver Public Schools from 1997 to 2003 as director of licensing programs and director of human resources.
    Sworn into the position sans election Nov. 2, Ruckel takes on the role in a volunteer capacity for the four-year term serving District A, which includes Fort Lupton, Keenesburg, Hudson, Prospect Valley, Lochbuie and Roggen.
    “It was one of those non-elections where none of us had any opposition, so the college was able to cancel the election,” Ruckel explained. “I just retired from the school district, and I thought, wow, I haven’t done a whole lot in higher ed, my background has been almost entirely in K-12. It will be a nice way to continue working and contributing in the field, especially helping with the transition from high school into college.”
    Ruckel replaces the term-limited Sandy Neb, who Ruckel said approached her looking for a strong replacement to represent the local area and the Fort Lupton campus.
     “We want to see this campus grow and continue to serve the area high school graduates and adult community as well,” Ruckel said.  “The district that I represent includes RE-8 and 3J. The more concurrent classes that we can arrange, and there is some of that going on now, where kids are dual enrolled and earn college credit while they are still in high school, the more of that that we can do for students, the better prepared they will be and more inclined to go on into higher ed.”
    “I think we will be looking at ways to broaden that and expand those offerings so that as many students as possible who are prepared and willing and interested can begin college work while they are still in high school,” Ruckel added. “It’s also a huge cost savings for them.”

Contact Staff Writer Gene Sears at 303-659-2522 or email gsears@metrowestnewspapers.com