MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
It’s crunch time on campus at Onondaga Community College (OCC). Spring semester final exams are just over a week away. In Professor Kristen Costello’s Microeconomics (ECO 204) class she’s discussing final project options with students. “You can do either a paper or a presentation,” Costello said. “If you choose a presentation you can do so as an individual or in a group of up to three people.”
Costello is holding class in the lounge of one of the college’s four residence halls. This particular residence hall is the home of Business majors who reside in one of the college’s Living Learning Comm...
Tags: Community Relations, Learning Environments, Partnerships, Teaching and Learning, Teaching Strategies
October
2016
It’s a pitch meeting on Music Row in Nashville, the center of the city’s music industry. Young people are presenting a complete package for a new rap artist, Malik Deshaun, known professionally as Vantage. They screen a video, show features of a website, discuss the social media pages they have created for the release, and run through a business plan. Then, it’s off to the listening room to play the tracks. The bass rumbles and the drum beats are sharp. Heads nod in the room in sync with the rhythm. But these aren’t Nashville music pros presenting—they’re students from Volunteer State Communit...
Tags: Veterans
October
2016
In 1998, Jessica Saenz began attending Midland College. Two years later, she became the first person in her family to graduate with an associate degree. She then transferred to Texas State University (TSU) and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Saenz said,
Like most students, my initial career goals after college graduation varied, and were a far cry from joining the military. But then, during my first year at TSU, 9/11 happened, and it changed my attitude. I felt a need to do what I could to protect Americans and our way of life.
In 2003, at the age of 23, Saenz joined the U.S....
Nearly 30 percent of high school juniors and seniors in Colorado participated in concurrent enrollment, ASCENT (Accelerating Students through Concurrent ENrollmenT), or other dual-enrollment programs during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Arapahoe Community College (ACC) served more students (3,614) than any other two-year institution in the state during that time. ACC’s concurrent enrollment program is designed for high school students looking for a challenging academic experience while simultaneously earning high school and college credit.
“Concurrent enrollment is a great way for students to s...
Snead State Community College launched the College Completion Agenda in 2010 to encourage student success with the ultimate goal of earning an associate degree. The initiative became the one thing at the college that drives everything faculty and staff do to encourage student success.
Snead State was the first two-year college in Alabama to sign on to the College Completion Agenda, which developed out of a Call to Action signed by six key educational organizations: Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society, American Association of Community College, Association of Community College Trustees, Nati...
The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), Maryland, is one of 20 community colleges nationally selected by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to participate in the Right Signals Initiative designed “to identify and develop a national model for recognizable credentialing.”
According to the AACC announcement release,
The purpose of the Right Signals Initiative is to demonstrate a new credentialing model that recognizes multiple quality credentials to send “the right signals” to employers, students, and colleges about the meaning of these credentials. Key credentials to...
San Jacinto College launched a collaborative course in the fall 2015 semester that incorporates algebra and English composition. The new course links college algebra and introductory composition, both gateway core courses for all students who plan to either earn associate degrees or transfer to universities.
“This is a novel concept at San Jacinto College,” commented Mark Johnson, North Campus language arts department chair.
The course explores the power of narrative in math and English. Give a person some facts and part of the brain lights up. Tell a person a story and the whole brain lights...
Beginning with the spring 2016 semester, Mesa Community College (MCC) began offering an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Sustainable Agriculture—the first of its kind in Arizona.
The Sustainable Agriculture degree provides students with both the technical and small business skills needed to manage or develop a small farm or agricultural business. The program is focused on small scale and urban agriculture with an emphasis on natural practices and sustainability. Courses include Field Crop Production, Livestock Production, Aquaponics, Integrated Pest Management, and Agricultural Marketing...
Arapahoe Community College (ACC), in conjunction with WorldDenver, hosted an 18-person panel of ambassadors from the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015. This endeavor was sponsored by the ACC Foundation.
The ambassadors were on campus to examine the community college business model, and, in particular, ACC’s role in facilitating business and industry partnerships through the College's Business Department (initiative to provide website/social media assistance to Denver-based Mi Casa clients) and Automotive Service Technology Program (on-t...
Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, has been serving the firefighting community through its 14-week fire academy—the only open enrollment career fire academy in Pennsylvania—since 1989.
Fire departments from across Pennsylvania send their newly hired firefighters to the Sen. John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center (PSC) at HACC to train alongside pre-service cadets. HACC has conducted an average of two fire academies each year, resulting in almost 300 career firefighter graduates.
In June 2015, HACC celebrated the graduation of eight cadets in its...
The Fast Track to Manufacturing Program at Indian River State College is just what its name implies: quick, efficient, and effective training for manufacturing jobs. The two-year-old program has proved to be a valuable resource for companies throughout Florida’s four-county Treasure Coast and individuals wanting to gear up for employment as manufacturing rebounds on Florida’s East Coast.
One reason for the program’s success is involvement of the college’s Manufacturing Advisory Council, composed of manufacturers sharing real-world experience. In addition, Career Source Research Coast, a nonpro...
Tags: Diversity
March
2016
Last September, Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) was awarded a Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). As one of 203 grant recipients selected from across the country, CGCC received an award of $10,000 to produce public programming about Latino history and culture.
Beginning last fall, CGCC began hosting a variety of program activities to engage students and the community about the history and cultural impact of Latinos in the United States. Activities featured a Latino American art e...
Tags: Sustainability
March
2016
This fall, Joliet Junior College (JJC) was recognized for its efforts in sustainability and awarded a bronze rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) earlier this summer.
The college was scored in four specific categories: planning and administration, engagement, operations, and academics. More than 40 JJC faculty and staff on the college’s Sustainability Committee representing departments and offices across the college (including its extended campuses) worked to gather all the...
Tags: Workforce Preparation
February
2016
For the nine community colleges in California’s San Diego and Imperial counties, “strength in numbers” is more than just an axiom. Through combining their forces—and their voices—college leaders have found that they are able to deliver a powerful message to legislators, the media, and the public.
Representatives from the San Diego and Imperial County colleges meet monthly as part of a consortium known as the San Diego and Imperial Counties Community College Association (SDICCCA). The six college districts, serving a total of more than 200,000 students, range from the San Diego district, the se...
In the fall of 2009, the first cohort of more than 100 ninth-grade students were admitted into Early College High School at Midland College (ECHS@MC). The school focuses primarily on serving first-generation college students, those with a low socioeconomic status, and/or those whose ethnicities are underrepresented at the college level.
Today, Midland College (MC) and the Midland Independent School District (MISD) have recognized three cohorts of graduates from the successful program. Over 85 percent of those students received associate degrees from Midland College at the same time they receiv...
Snead State Community College began its Presidential Scholars program in 2009 as a leadership development opportunity for incoming students who demonstrated academic excellence. Including the 2015-2016 group, 62 students have received the distinction of Presidential Scholars, and the graduation rate among those completing courses at SSCC is 97 percent.
Presidential Scholars represent Snead State at a variety of events, including donor recognition and alumni functions. The students participate in two signature activities each year—completion of the BOLD team building ropes course at Berry Colle...
The Maricopa Community Colleges has announced a new program that will help children who are aging out of the foster care system to get into and complete college. The Bridging Success Initiative, funded by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, was introduced at an event with partners from across the Valley.
The initiative advisory board has representatives from Arizona State University (ASU), Children's Action Alliance, Arizona's Children Association, Arizona Friends of Foster Care, College Success Arizona, College Depot, Florence Crittendon, and the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
The p...
Tags: Partnerships, Student Services
December
2015
In an historic meeting, Lake Land College and Eastern Illinois University trustees committed to building upon opportunities between the two institutions for the benefit of their students, communities, and state.
During the April 23, 2015, joint board meeting, trustees learned of the many partnerships the university and community college have developed over the past few decades. They also identified opportunities for future collaboration.
Located just 11 miles apart, the university, in Charleston, IL, and college, in Mattoon, IL, have a strong, supportive relationship. Students in East Centra...
Tags: Workforce Preparation
November
2015
Onondaga Community College (OCC), in Syracuse, New York, began educating the next wave of nuclear energy industry workers in the fall of 2013 when it became one of only 36 colleges in the country to offer an A.A.S. degree in Nuclear Energy Technology (NET). The program was created in direct response to a workforce demand brought to the college by the nuclear energy industry. It estimates approximately half of its workforce will be eligible to retire during the next 10 years. The program and its curriculum were funded initially by a grant from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a gift f...
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