University of the District of Columbia President Allen L. Sessoms has been appointed to the NCAA Division II President’s Council. The appointment exemplifies his leadership and experience in athletics and demonstrates the university’s overall commitment to athletics and the role it plays in student life.

President Sessoms has extensive experience with intercollegiate athletics and the NCAA. He is a former NCAA Division II member of the NCAA Presidents’ Commission, having served on the President’s Council transition team. Under his leadership, the Athletic Department has dramatically built up its administrative bench with the hiring of associate athletic directors in NCAA compliance, internal operations, external affairs, academics and marketing and communications.

In July 2011, Sessoms, along with Director of Athletics, Patricia Thomas, guided the University of the District of Columbia into membership in the East Coast Conference (ECC), marking the university’s first conference membership.

via President Allen Sessoms Appointed to NCAA Division II President’s Council.

The University of the District of Columbia announces the inaugural class of the Congressional Internship Program, a new program designed to give students experience working on Capitol Hill with the nation’s elected officials.

The Congressional Internship Program (CIP) is the product of a joint effort between the University’s Office of Government Relations, faculty of the School of Urban Affairs, Social Sciences, Social Work, and the Members of Congress who have agreed to employ University students for one or two semester internships.

“As Washington, DC’s only public university, we are proud to be able to extend these opportunities to our students,” said President Allen L. Sessoms. “We are grateful for these Members of Congress, who look to UDC as a real resource not just for them, but for Washingtonians at large.”

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Capitol Hill Embraces UDC Students

University of the District of Columbia President Allen Sessoms recently told staff at the school that its community college branch would not be referred to as the Community College of the District of Columbia, but as the UDC Community College.

While university officials point to the message as a key to proper branding and clarity for accreditation review for the three-year old institution, leadership within the community college and D.C. City Council are eying its implications in keeping the school from eventual independent management and oversight. From the Washington Post:

Behind the scenes, Sessoms and the community college’s chief executive officer, Jonathan Gueverra, aren’t getting along, most observers agree, because Gueverra signed on to create a standalone school while Sessoms has sought to slow down the separation process. Some community college students have started to object to the slow-walk style, mounting an online petition drive to keep UDC from meddling with CCDC. But real obstacles remain to spinning off the community college — the accreditation process can take as long as five years, and without that in place, students would not be eligible for federal student aid.

City Council Chairman Kwame Brown has commissioned an independent board to lay out the financial and social impact of severance for the community college from UDC. The report is scheduled for a late November submission to the council.

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CCDC tries to shed UDC-CC – The Washington Post

University of the District of Columbia President Dr. Allen L. Sessoms today thanked members of the Council of the District of Columbia for affirming Mayor Vincent Gray’s nominations to the UDC Board of Trustees. The addition of seven new Trustees brings to 14 the number of filled seats on the board and strengthens the growth and momentum of the revitalized university.

“Having a full board gives us greater traction as we continue transforming the District’s state university,” said Dr. Sessoms. “The individuals joining us now are truly dedicated and influential people who will be able to help us continue building a great university.” One nominee, Dr. Ricardo Brown, withdrew his candidacy after accepting a position with the University of Maryland System. One vacancy currently exists on the UDC Board of Trustees.

The Board had operated with as few as five members in recent years. But the additional members bring an added level of “influence and affluence” to augment the achievements of current trustees and will propel the university to the next level.

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Council Approves Seven New UDC Trustees