Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College: Blurring Traditional Education Boundaries

Offering only one degree; developing a cloud computing program in collaboration with Amazon Web Services; working with high schools so students can earn an associate degree before graduation: these are examples of the kind of innovation community colleges must pursue to stay relevant to students and employers alike, according to our guest today, Dr. Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College. “This is where the next iteration of community college must be. We can’t just stay in a classroom. It doesn’t work that way anymore.” Those examples and others are included in the new book Dr. Eddinger is co-editing, Beyond the College Walls: Partnerships and the Future of Community College Reform, which is due out from Harvard Education Press in September, 2026. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, who contributed a chapter to the book, community colleges must work to blur the boundaries between high school, college, and careers and make it easier for students -- especially adult learners -- to gain the skills they need in ways that fit their lives. Join us for a forward-looking WorkforceRx conversation on how community colleges are reimagining pathways to economic mobility and building partnerships that connect students more directly to opportunity.