News

Chairman Napolitano welcomes Dr Caputo, COD’s new President

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my distinct privilege to stand before you on this momentous occasion to celebrate the Investiture of our seventh president at College of DuPage. I am equally delighted to recognize each and every one of you here today who works hard to make our institution the great place that it is—both now and for many years to come. I wholeheartedly believe in the profound talent that exists at College of DuPage. Our expert faculty and staff are deeply committed to the transformative nature of higher education. Thank you for working together to strengthen our collective goal of student success. We are College of DuPage!


I would also like to acknowledge our outstanding Presidential Search Committee, which is central to today’s historic event. This remarkable committee—comprised of a diverse array of industry leaders in the private and non-profit sectors, government, education and much more—volunteered their time to provide their professional insights and experience to pursue the important charge of identifying a highly-qualified individual to serve as president. This was not an easy task. Over the course of several months, the Search Committee shared invaluable perspectives to present the Board with qualified candidates with keen leadership skills. Dr. Brian Caputo was unanimously selected by the Board as the best fit to serve as the seventh college president and to help propel our campus forward by taking College of DuPage to the next level.


Dr. Caputo brings more than 35 years of relevant management and leadership experience to this great institution, drawing from a broad range of senior-level executive positions in higher education, local government, and the military. In his most recent role as Vice President for Administrative Affairs andChief Financial Officer, Dr. Caputo has been integrally involved in developing key academic and career training programs, including Guided Pathways, Project Hire-Ed and Innovation DuPage as well as spearheading major financial transparency initiatives.


With our new board in place and Dr. Caputo as our new president, I am proud to say we are already off to a phenomenal start. Today ushers in a new era at College of DuPage, and Dr. Caputo is ready to move us forward. Dr. Caputo will provide leadership that combines innovation, fiscal responsibility and forward thinking in a way that uses all of our many resources to focus on student success. I look forward to working with Dr. Caputo, the Board of Trustees and all of you as we continue to make a positive impact here at College of DuPage.

College of DuPage Faculty Negotiations

At the College of DuPage, we are currently negotiating a new contract with our full-time faculty, CODFA, and had hoped to reach an agreement by now, but we are continuing to work through some of our differences and will hopefully reach a fair agreement for all stakeholders. We have a first-rate faculty and staff here and we fully recognize the need to be competitive with our salaries, benefits, facilities and every other factor in making COD a good destination college for students in DuPage County. We also must balance the finances with the burden we place on our taxpayers in the district who have always demonstrated generosity in supporting the college. Our board firmly believes we can do both those things with a spirit of cooperation and appreciation on both sides. Now, we all just need to get together, work to understand good outcomes and get it done for the faculty, staff, students, and taxpayers.

An open letter to the 2019 High School and College Graduates.

As the academic years at high schools and colleges are coming to an end, I think about all the great opportunities that lie ahead for you.

The economy and job market are good, and there will be countless opportunities for you, make sure you have the degrees and or certificates needed to move forward in your career.

Chairman Napolitano Comments on Presidential selection process

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to sincerely thank our Presidential Search Committee for its hard work and commitment to community service. This diverse group of leaders included a 16-member team from a cross section of College of DuPage faculty and staff as well as business, legal, financial, government and education areas throughout District 502. These key stakeholders volunteered their time to present the Board with three qualified presidential candidates, each of whom possesses valuable leadership skills.

Three finalists named for COD board president

The College of DuPage (COD) Board of Trustees announced the names of three finalists in the search for the next board president.
The finalists, selected by the COD Presidential Search Committee with assistance from executive search firm AGB Search, are COD Interim President Brian Caputo, Pierpont Community & Technical College President Johnny Moore, and Seward County Community College President Ken Trzaska.

“The purpose of the presidential search public open forum is to provide faculty, staff, students and the community-at-large an opportunity to submit questions to the candidates as well as provide input via an online survey following each forum,” Napolitano said.