Small College America Dr. Dean McCurdy - President Colby Sawyer College

“Welcome to Small College America, a podcast dedicated to exploring the role and value of small colleges in the higher education landscape. I'm Kent Barnds, and I’m joined by my co-host, Dean Hoke.  

Dean: “Today, we are speaking with Dean McCurdy, president of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. Dr. McCurdy has been an innovative leader at small private liberal arts colleges and at large public community colleges. 

Prior to joining Colby-Sawyer in June, Dean was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, which enrolls more than 200,000 students. In his various roles with the system, Dean spurred record enrollment and boosted student achievement through experiential education. 

At Kalamazoo Valley Community College, as associate vice president for instruction, Dean launched a health-focused campus that catalyzed community revitalization and workforce development through sustainable food education and preparation. 

Dean, an ecologist, was also a tenured biology professor at Albion College and an award-winning researcher of marine systems. Earlier in his career, he was a visiting professor of biology and field manager of the Coastal Studies Center at Bowdoin College. 

Dean holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology from Acadia University and a doctorate in biology from Carleton University.  

Q1: Dean, to begin, could you tell our audience about Colby-Sawyer and what makes it distinctive?

Q2: At Ivy Tech you worked within a statewide system serving nearly 200,000 students. Now you’re leading Colby-Sawyer, with a student body of about 1,000. What lessons from managing at such scale do you see applying most directly to a small college like Colby-Sawyer?

Q3: You’ve talked about the evolving role of small colleges in regional workforce development. Where do you see Colby-Sawyer’s strongest opportunities to contribute—whether through partnerships, academic programs, or community engagement?

Q4: Colby-Sawyer is known for traditions like Mountain Day, which bring students, faculty, and staff together in unique ways. How do you balance honoring those traditions with ensuring students gain the skills and experiences needed for a changing workforce?

Q5: In our prep conversation, you emphasized the importance of telling alumni success stories. Can you share an example that captures the impact of a Colby-Sawyer education and how those stories help define the college’s value to future students?

Q6: If we were to look five years into the future, what gives you the most hope for Colby-Sawyer—and more broadly, for the role of small colleges in American higher education?

Kent Barnds: “Dean, thank you for joining us today and sharing your vision for Colby-Sawyer and small colleges more broadly. For those listening, if you'd like to learn more about Small College America, go to our web page at www.smallcollegeamerica.net, where you can find details on upcoming episodes, contact us, and suggest topics you’d like us to cover.

This episode of Small College America is made possible with underwriting support from Perspective Data Science, a firm specializing in AI-powered tools and data solutions, including the Financial Compass platform.

On behalf of our guest, Dean McCurdy, my co-host Dean Hoke, and myself, thank you for listening.”