Doors Open to All: Meet New CEI President Lori Barber

Lori Barber smiles in the John E. Christofferson Building at the College of Eastern Idaho on Thursday.

IDAHO FALLS — College of Eastern Idaho’s newly elected second president, Lori Barber, knows firsthand what it means to be a nontraditional student.

“I went to college right after high school. I was there for four years, but I never finished because I changed majors and got married,” she said. “We started a family, and the education kind of got lost in the shuffle.”

She did, however, recognize the power of learning from her own family’s example.

“My parents grew up in extreme poverty and it was through education that they were able to really turn their lives around,” Barber said. “They both became very successful. My father became a doctor and my mother became a dietitian because they knew the power of education.”

At the age of 40, she decided to enroll at Idaho State University, where she completed her studies in one year. Eighteen months later, she earned a master’s degree in history and anthropology and soon began teaching as an adjunct professor at Idaho State University’s University Place campus.

“When I heard that there was an opportunity to vote for a community college, I really thought that this is where I wanted to be,” Barber said. “A lot of my students at Idaho State University were working full-time, had families and were spending a lot of money to get their degree. So I thought that a community college would just be great for some of those students.”

She was hired by CEI’s first president, Rick Aman, as CEI’s director of general education, eventually becoming dean and then vice president of academic and student affairs in 2019, a position she has held for the past five years. She also earned a doctorate in education in leadership and innovation from Arizona State University.

As the new president of the CEI, effective August 1, she is expanding educational opportunities to others.

At the College of Eastern Idaho, “we have something for everyone,” she said, “…Anyone who wants just a little more training or a lot more training can come to us, and we have a program that will meet their needs.”

The college offers a variety of opportunities, Barber shared, including:

• “Short-term training in our Workforce Training division
• “If you need a GED, you can participate in our career and college readiness program.
• “If you want to get a traditional degree and transfer, and you want to transfer to a university, you can come and do two years and then transfer to the university.
• “We also have all these career technical education programs like cybersecurity, nursing, surgical technology, medical assistant, welding and diesel mechanics.”

“You can come in and do a one-year certificate in some of these programs, or you can get a two-year associate degree,” she said.

CEI is at the forefront of helping people change their lives by qualifying students for better jobs and providing cutting-edge skills that employers are looking for in the job market.

“My ability to become a college president has completely changed the trajectory of my life,” she said. “I want to do the same for every student who walks through our doors. They may come from extreme poverty and need us to walk them through every step of the way. … They need us to help them see a vision of what their lives could be through education.”

Barber has a proven track record. Under his leadership, the college was able to achieve accreditation for two applied baccalaureate degrees, despite being the youngest community college in the state.

“I want to make sure that we are a truly innovative institution. (…) The CEI is at the forefront of education right now,” she said. “I intend to keep us at the forefront of education, so that people know when they come to us that they have many different channels of learning available to them.”

Looking ahead, the future looks bright: enrollment and credit hours increased by 20 percent this fall, and 300 students will come to the College of Eastern Idaho through Launch scholarships.

According to its website, in fiscal year 2023, the community college enrolls 3,225 credit students, 529 noncredit students and 17,494 vocational and career education students, for a total of 21,248 students.

It offers 395 degrees and certificates, 97% job placement and has a 13:1 student-faculty ratio.

“I’m very honored and very excited to lead the college into this new era,” Barber said. “We’ve been in a startup phase for the last six to seven years, and we feel like we’re moving from that startup phase to the building phase. I’m a builder, so I’m excited to … take the college to the next level.”