About STLCC
- Mission Statement
- Meet Chancellor Zelema Harris
- Board of Trustees
- College Leadership Team
- Strategic Planning
- Accreditation
- History
- Success Stories
- NCA HLC Self-Study
- Disability Information
- Diversity at STLCC
- Institutional Development
Meet Chancellor Zelema Harris
As the chancellor of St. Louis Community College, Dr. Zelema Harris serves as the chief executive officer of a system that consists of four campuses and three education centers with an annual budget of $195 million. STLCC serves more than 100,000 students annually and offers more than 100 career and transfer academic programs.
With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Harris has served as president of Parkland College in Champaign, Ill., and as president of Penn Valley Community College in Kansas City, Mo.
Locally, Dr. Harris serves on the boards of directors for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, Focus St. Louis, the St. Louis Science Center, the St. Louis Gateway Classic Foundation, the St. Louis Coalition for Information & Communication Technology, The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Downtown Partnership, and the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Throughout her career, Dr. Harris actively has served the educational communities at the state and national levels. She has served on the boards of the American Council of Education (ACE), the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Council of Higher Education Accreditation, the Association for Managing and Using Information Resources in Higher Education, and on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). She also served on the Illinois Governor's Summit on Education, the Illinois Community College Board International Education Advisory Committee, the Illinois Board of Higher Education Committee on Research and Assessment, the Illinois Workforce Investment Board Executive Committee, and on the board of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement. She has been a member of the ACE's Commission on Women in Higher Education, the AACC Leading Forward National Advisory Panel, the National Council on Black American Affairs North Central Region, and the Grand Victoria Foundation.
Dr. Harris has received many awards and honors, including the Athena Award for Outstanding Business/Professional Woman from the Champaign County Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the International Leadership Award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development at the University of Texas at Austin, the Most Valuable Citizen Award from the Champaign County Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the AACC's Leadership Award, President of the Year from the American Association of Women in Community Colleges, and CEO of the Year from the Association of Community College Trustees.
In 2008, she was named a YWCA of St. Louis Leader of Distinction, and was selected as one of the St. Louis Business Journal's Most Influential Women in Business, Most Influential St. Louisans and Most Influential Minorities in Business.
Dr. Harris earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M University, and her Master of Science and Doctorate of Education degrees from the University of Kansas.
A Texas native, Dr. Harris enjoys reading, the arts, traveling abroad and spending time with her three grown children and granddaughter.