Dr. Carole Berotte Joseph

About

Dr. Carole M. Berotte Joseph retired from CUNY as University Professor and past President of  the Bronx Community College. She became the 5th President of BCC in July 2011. Prior to  returning to CUNY, she served as President of Massachusetts Bay Community College in 2005  in Wellesley Hills, MA and became the first person of Haitian descent to become a college  president in the US. Currently, she is available for Consultant work through Berotte Consultancy Associates, LLC. 

During her 45 year career in education, she held several leadership positions including: Deputy  Chief of Party for FHI 360’s, USAID funded-project, Ann Ale, in Haiti. She was responsible  for the launch, startup and implementation of this major literacy & teacher development project,  and managed several sub-contracts with collaborating agencies, in partnership with the Ministry  of Education. In the US, most of her career focused in Higher Education. She held several high  level administrative posts, having served as Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Academic Affairs at Dutchess Community College/SUNY and Vice President of Academic Affairs at  Eugenio María de Hostos Community College/CUNY.

Her career in higher education began at  the City College of New York/CUNY, in Bilingual Education, where she served as School of  Education faculty at both the Graduate and Undergraduate levels, for over 20 years. As a full  professor with tenure, she was the recipient of several major grants which led to the establishment of the first Haitian Bilingual Parent & Teacher Training program (Project HAPTT). She served as the Principal Investigator and first Director of the statewide HABETAC,  the Haitian Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Center in New York.  

An expert in the field of bilingual/multicultural education, she is a socio-linguist by discipline.  She co-edited a groundbreaking book entitled “The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use and Education,” (2010). She has lectured extensively, and has authored, translated and  edited articles on education and immigration & language policy issues facing Haitian communities in the United States as well as in Haiti. She was among the pioneers who advocated for, conceptualized and implemented the original Dreamer’s legislation w/President  Obama’s staff and a host of national leaders in Washington, DC to support higher education for  undocumented students. Her campus, was in fact, the first to welcome “Dreamers” in CUNY.  She served on the Advisory Board of the Community College Research Center (CCRC), at Teachers College Columbia University and AACC’s Presidents’Academy, to plan professional  development for community college presidents throughout the US. She was one of 12 community college presidents selected by the US State Department to travel to various countries  to assist in the implementation of the community college model internationally. 

Locally, she Co-Chaired the Bronx Borough President’s Higher Education Consortium, the  CUNY Chancellor’s Haiti Higher Education Task Force, which worked with a host of educational leaders and the Ministry of Education after the 2010 earthquake. As a staunch  advocate for the establishment of the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute, she chaired the planning  committee that made this entity a reality. It is currently housed at Brooklyn College.

She served on several national & international boards & commissions and served as Co-Chair  of the Haiti Education Steering Committee, in Haiti, for a number of years. This effort was  supported by the Kellogg Foundation. 

She has served on the editorial boards of several refereed journals including the Journal ofHaitian  Studies and Wadabagei. 

 

Dr. Berotte Joseph was born in Haiti and grew up in New York City. She is fluent in four (4) languages. She has been featured in several Who’s Who publications and has received numerous  prestigious awards, including the “Big Picture Gandi Award” from the City School Program in  Boston, MA, the Haitian Americans United for Progress Award of Excellence and the NYS Bilingual Educator of the Year Gladys Correa Award. In 2007, York College presented her with  the Distinguished Alumus Award for Excellence in Education & Administration. In May 2010,  NYU honored her with the Distinguished Alumna Award for blazing the trail for others, setting forth a new educational model, and global perspective and service. 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with minors in French and Education from York College, CUNY; a master’s in Bilingual Education, specializing in curriculum development from  Fordham University; completed advanced graduate coursework in administration and supervision at NYU which led to NYS Certifications as Principal and Superintendent of Schools.  Her doctoral research focused on language attitudes among Haitians in the Greater NY Metropolitan area. She holds a doctorate in Sociolinguistics and Bilingual Education from the  Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University.

Achievements & Service - Over A 45-Year Career

  • 2021-2024 – Ayiti Community Trust (ACT) Board Member 
  • 2023 – Vice-Chair, ACT
  • 2010-2023  – Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) 
  • 2015 – Led the launch of the USAID-funded program, Ann Ale, with FHI 360 in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MENFP) to provide teacher development, materials development, and parent education
  • 2011-2015 – Participated in the CUNY Chancellor’s Task Force on Higher Education in Haiti, which supported the development of the Université Publique en Région (UPR)
  • 2012-2014 – Hosted a monthly TV program, Defining What Matters, in collaboration with Bronx Net Television, Bronx, NY 
  • 2000-2005 – Board Member of the United Way, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • 1994-2000 – Member of the Institute of Higher Education (IHE) Bilingual Consortium, NYC Board of Education
  • 1995-Present – Member and Past President of the Haitian Studies Association (HSA)
  • 1997-2000 –  HSA President 
  • 1997 – Completed Certification in Conflict Resolution with Educators for Social Responsibility and Mediation Skills Training, City University of NY
  • 1995 – Co-Chair, Chancellor Cortines’s NYC Action Plan on Policy & Research Implications to Ensure Quality Bilingual & ESL Instructional Programs, NYC Board of Education
  • 1991-1993 – Member of the Historical Society Advisory Committee on the Haitian-American Documentation Project, Rockland County, NY
  • 1977 – Established and managed the first Bilingual Teacher & Parent Education (HAPTT) Program in the US (Kreyol/English) to educate bilingual teachers and Haitian immigrant parents, and institutionalized a state-registered degree program at the City College of NY