Ed DesPlas
For immediate release — Nov. 11, 2009
(DALLAS) — What do you want to be when you grow up?
Some people want to fly an airplane or scale mountains. Others like to write or to gaze at the stars. Ed DesPlas discovered many years ago that he likes the thrill of matching resources to company needs and priorities — or, in his case, the needs of the Dallas County Community College District. That attention to detail and skill at administering millions of dollars for DCCCD recently brought honors to DesPlas when he was named a Dallas Business Journal 2009 CFO of the Year finalist.
DCCCD’s executive vice chancellor for business affairs (and former Eagle Scout) was nominated for the DBJ award by Dr. Wright Lassiter Jr., the district’s chancellor. Lassiter said, “Ed DesPlas has served at my side during my three-year tenure, to the greatest benefit of our organization. He is an outstanding chief financial officer, not only because he has strengthened our long-held reputation in Dallas County as one of its best financially-run institutions but also because he has more closely linked solid financial leadership to the student-centered mission of DCCCD.”
Lasssiter added, “Because our mission focuses on our students’ ability to obtain an affordable, accommodating and accessible education, he represents the best of what I believe to be a still rare number of financial officers who understand the organic relationship between financial decisions and mission strength.”
During his tenure as CFO at El Centro College and then for the entire community college district, DesPlas developed the Enterprise Scholarship program, which generates funds for students from partnerships with the textbook vending machine contractor that serves all of DCCCD’s colleges. He also has supported the district’s goal to retain students by reassigning resources in order to establish the Million Dollar Retention Fund, as well as a market disparity stipend program for nursing and allied health care faculty members. That effort has enabled DCCCD to increase the number of nursing graduates and to help solve the nursing shortage in Texas. He also has developed a policy, with the chancellor’s support, that places tuition increases on a two-year cycle (at a minimum) so that students have time to earn an associate’s degree without a tuition increase.
DesPlas began his career with DCCCD’s LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications. “They promoted me to an accounting clerk’s position, and my supervisor — seeing that I enjoyed the problem-solving challenges of accounting — encouraged me to earn an accounting/business administration degree. It took several steps and many years to get from that accounting clerk job to CFO, but one has to start somewhere,” DesPlas recalled.
His financial philosophy for DCCCD is straightforward. “Challenges are opportunities. Ours include a growing population (of students) who need access to higher education; improvements in student retention, achievement and completion; and an increase in business and industry needs for an educated and trained work force,” explained DesPlas.
“Another challenge is the need to keep property taxes and tuition rates low, plus dealing with pressures related to state funding for community colleges. Other challenges include preparing for the retirement of our aging faculty work force; keeping pace with advances in technology; maintaining aging physical plants; and advancing ‘green’ initiatives.”
DesPlas said his greatest professional accomplishment — as a youth — was achieving the rank of Eagle Scout; as an adult, it has been establishing the Bill J. Priest Scholarship and the Enterprise Scholarship funds. To date, more than $1 million in auxiliary fund revenues (non-tax, non-tuition monies) have provided resources to DCCCD students who are not qualified to receive other forms of financial aid.
During his career at DCCCD, DesPlas has served as executive vice chancellor for business affairs at the district level; executive vice president of business affairs and interim president of El Centro College; director of business operations and then dean of financial affairs at Eastfield College; as well as budget officer for DCCCD and periodically as an adjunct faculty member in accounting.
After he earned freshman- and sophomore-level credits from DCCCD’s Richland College, DesPlas earned his a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas; a master’s degree in human resources and training from Amberton University; and completed executive leadership training at both Harvard University and the American Association of Community Colleges’ Future Leaders Institute/Advanced.
He is professionally affiliated with the Texas Association of Community College Business Officers; Community College Business Officers; and the National Association of College and University Business Officers. He was the 2001 recipient of NACUBO’s Rising Star Award. In 2002, he was honored by CCBO with that organization’s International Outstanding Chief Business Officer Award.
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Press contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
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