Welcome to the MACC Blog!

Our January newsletter is out! This month’s edition features a recap of MACC’s recent Summit on Completion, with excerpts from the keynote presentation by Dr. Uri Treisman of the University of Texas. Also in the newsletter, a summary of the 2012 Legislative Agenda and some brief highlights of news from around the state’s community college campuses.

Here’s a quick highlights video… of a spectacular day, as more than 400 community college administrators, faculty and staff from across the state gathered together at CCBC Catonsville on December 9 for MACC’s 2nd Annual “Summit on Completion.” Attendees shared best practices and strategies during the full-day conference and reaffirmed their joint commitment to increasing the number of students who complete degrees and other credentials, and successfully transfer to four-year institutions.

Please visit the MACC website for a full conference recap. There, you’ll find The Community College Times article about the event: “Md. colleges advance completion agenda,” along with the conference program, posted conference materials, photos from the event, and more. You’ll also be able to access full-length videos of the speakers from the opening, luncheon and closing sessions.

Thanks to the outstanding team from the Community College of Baltimore County for hosting the event at CCBC Catonsville, and for making these videos available!

Not only are community colleges making great progress toward improving student completion success, they are also making huge strides in urging education policymakers, nationally, to develop a more accurate and effective methodology for tracking graduation rates and other measures of completion success. Maryland’s community colleges welcomed the news this week that a federal committee’s just-released draft report recommends to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan a broad series of changes in measuring completion success, including that of fully counting students who transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions.

“That move would be a victory for community colleges,” notes an article in Inside Higher Education about the recommendations. Maryland’s community colleges have been in the forefront of this issue, as noted on this blog and reflected in a commentary piece authored by Dr. Craig Claggett of Carroll Community College, which ran earlier this fall in that same publication. A final report will be transmitted to Secretary Duncan within the next few weeks.

Access and affordability have always been hallmarks of our community colleges. And in recent years, they have become well known for their cultural diversity and commitment to inclusiveness. Day in and day out, our colleges are working to create a supportive environment for learning, to ensure that all students have the opportunity to pursue and, ultimately, achieve their goal of completing a college education.

One example is found in a new awareness campaign that was launched recently by Montgomery College. A group of concerned Montgomery College employees developed “Making It Better,” a college-wide statement that celebrates the College’s diversity and takes a stand against bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students, faculty and staff. To learn more about the campaign, the college has posted a web page featuring links to two videos that have been created.

Community colleges across America are undertaking innovative initiatives and strategies to ensure an increase in student completion rates, and now they are stepping up the effort by engaging prominent business leaders in the college completion agenda. Recently, the American Association of Community Colleges’ Corporate Council signed a new “Call to Action” that aims to strengthen partnerships with businesses to create more opportunities for applying successful business strategies to the challenge.

Courtesy of Montgomery College

As we join our entire nation in pausing to salute our veterans on this very special Veteran’s Day of 11-11-11, we also celebrate the longstanding bond that has always existed between veterans and community colleges – dating back, in part, to the times when so many community colleges burst on the scene, as a result of the GI Bill.

Maryland ‘s community colleges are working diligently each day to help all students to earn a college degree or certification that will prepare them for success in our 21^st century economy. And they are working especially hard to provide added services and support to help today’s returning war veterans in integrating back into our communities and community colleges.

One such program that has garnered national attention is the “Combat2College” program that was launched at our own Montgomery College. Community colleges around the state are proudly welcoming veterans into their classrooms and are ready to serve those who have served all of us. If you know a veteran who is looking to start or re-start his or her college education, we hope you’ll encourage them to check with their local community college.

We’ve provided some links below to pages on various Maryland community college websites, with information of particular interest to our returning veterans. On behalf of Maryland’s 16 community colleges, our deepest appreciation to all of our veterans!

Allegany College

Anne Arundel Community College

Baltimore City Community College

Carroll Community College

Cecil College

Chesapeake College

College of Southern Maryland

Community College of Baltimore County

Frederick Community College

Garrett College

Hagerstown Community College

Howard Community College

Montgomery College

Prince George’s Community College

Wor-Wic Community College