Office of the President

About Dr. Timothy Alvarez

Dr. Alvarez spent 15 years in various leadership and teaching roles at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he also received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership.

Dr. Alvarez explains that he wants Otero to be the best rural community college in Colorado, and beyond. “To get us to that point, we must always be considering cutting-edge programs that will allow us to recruit new students and have a positive impact in the communities we serve by providing a trained workforce. We want La Junta and the surrounding communities in the Arkansas Valley to thrive and we believe that Otero can play a positive role in that progress.”

In addition, Dr. Alvarez wants to bring the college community together to continually explore best practices that will help Otero serve some of the most vulnerable students; students that he believes, with the right amount of support and resources, can overcome many of the financial, academic and cultural barriers they face in higher education.

“It’s always been an interest and a passion for me to help vulnerable student populations; students, who would have been just like me when I earned my associates degree at a small community college in Nebraska. I was a first-generation student from a low income family. With the support and resources from the colleges and universities I attended, I was able to achieve my goals and achieve things I would have never dreamed possible as a young adult,” Alvarez said.

One of Dr. Alvarez’s goals is to make Otero an engine of social mobility. “I don’t care who you are or what walk of life you come from, if you come to Otero, I hope that we’re able to help you achieve your goals and once you leave here, that you have the skills to either be fully employed or go on to finish a higher academic degree,” stated Dr. Alvarez.

Dr. Alvarez and his wife Lori are the parents of three grown children, two sons and a daughter.

Alvarez Seeks to Make a Difference at Otero Junior College

“It’s always been an interest and a passion for me to help the vulnerable populations and populations who would have been like me when I earned my associates degree,” Alvarez said. “I’d like Otero to be an engine of social mobility. I don’t care who you are, what walk of life you come from, if you come to this campus, I hope that we’re able to help you achieve whatever goals you might have and that once you leave here that you have the skills to either be fully employed or go on to finish a four-year degree.”

Read the entire blog post by Dan Silva, Communications Manager, Bellevue University.

Alvarez wants his students to start thinking differently. He eschews the traditional ‘what’s your major?’ question and instead asks ‘what difference do you want to make in the world?’

Oftentimes, students are not prepared to answer that question, but they’ll come back later and say ‘I’ve thought about it. Here’s what I want to do.’  Ninety percent of the time it has nothing to do with the major or discipline, it has to do with their purpose and their passion.