Montgomery College: Creating a Supportive Environment for LGBT Students

Posted on November 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

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.

 

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Engaging Business in the Completion Agenda

Posted on November 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

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.

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Saluting… and Serving Our Veterans as Students!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by | Leave a comment

 

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 21st 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

 

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Washington Post Article: Community Colleges ‘Draw More Affluent Students’

Posted on November 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

‎”Middle-class and affluent students are enrolling in community colleges because it is a good value.” So reports the Washington Post today, in an article by the Post’s higher education reporter, Dan de Vise. Read the article here and find out what students and families are saying about the academic quality and value they find at community colleges!

One notable excerpt from the piece: Community colleges, many with two-year honors programs, are competing with four-year schools for the accomplished high school graduate. Their top students can transfer to prestigious universities and finish their education at reduced expense.

Do you have a great story to share about a student or students who are choosing community colleges as their first choice and starting place for the pursuit of their college degree(s)? We’d love to hear from you.

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Posted in Maryland Community Colleges

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National Study Shows Community College Degree and Certificate Attainment is Far Outpacing Enrollment Growth

Posted on October 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The American Association of Community Colleges recently released a revealing policy brief that examines trends in the educational attainment of community college students. And it bears out some good news. Over the past 20 years, during a time of rapidly rising enrollments, the number of credentials awarded to community college students has risen at double the pace of enrollment — and at an even higher rate for students of color.

More good news from the study: actual student transfer rates are much higher than have been commonly reported in the past. The full document, entitled “The Road Ahead: A Look at Trends in the Educational Attainment of Community College Students,” is available on the American Association of Community Colleges web site.

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Posted in National Trends

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CCBC: Taking on the ‘Financial Literacy’ Hurdle Faced by Many Students

Posted on October 26, 2011 by | Leave a comment

There can be many hurdles in front of students aiming to earn a college degree, including those of the financial challenges that await them when student loans and other debt may pile up. The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) is working closely with students to counsel them on the issue of “financial literacy,” helping them to better prepare themselves in managing their personal budgets. CCBC Developmental Education Coordinator Sonya Caesar discussed the challenge this week in a segment on the national PBS program, “Nightly Business Report.”

CCBC has also produced an enlightening video of its own on the financial literacy issue, entitled: “Beyond the Classroom Walls.” Please check it out!

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Posted in Maryland Community Colleges

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Pledging Our Commitment to Completion…

Posted on October 25, 2011 by | Leave a comment

How committed are Maryland’s community colleges to increasing student completion success? So much so that all 16 have signed on to a national completion pledge sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges. With the full participation of all 16 of its community colleges, Maryland is the only state to have signed on, as a whole, to the national campaign.

Perhaps even more importantly, our students are pledging their individual commitment to completing their college education by signing on to the Community College Completion Challenge, which is sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, the world’s oldest and largest community college honors society. Events to recruit students to participate in the completion pledge, such as this function held recently at Wor-Wic Community College, are being hosted on community college campuses throughout the state.

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Baltimore Sun Article: “Four-year Schools Courting Community College Graduates”

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Four-year universities and colleges are not only accepting more community college transfer students, they are actually now “courting” their graduates, as noted in a major article that just ran in The Baltimore Sun (“Four-year Schools Courting Community College Graduates”). In the article, Maryland’s Interim Secretary for Higher Education, Danette Howard, notes: “We have some very ambitious statewide goals for college completion.” Highlighting Governor Martin O’Malley’s goal that at least 55 percent of the state’s residents between ages 25 and 64 will hold at least one college degree by 2025, she adds: “To meet that goal we have to serve our transfer student population.”

Kudos to Anne Arundel Community College, Carroll Community College, and Howard Community College — whose students were featured prominently in the piece. The article also featured comments from four-year university admissions officers and presidents — including Dr. Freeman Hrabowski of UMBC and Dickinson University President William Durden.

Articles like this are helping to get the word out about the high quality of Maryland’s 16 community colleges and their graduates. The best news of all is that universities are increasingly awaiting the arrival of these students, as they look to transfer to complete higher degrees. Great work by Nancy Gainer of Howard Community College, in reaching out to Sun reporter Joe Burris, who wrote the story!

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Posted in Completion Agenda

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Let’s Analyze Student Completion Rates in Proper Context

Posted on October 20, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Apples and oranges comparisons are never very helpful, and that’s exactly the problem with many studies that are coming out these days in analysis of student completion rates on America’s college campuses. Dr. Craig Clagett, Vice President of Planning, Marketing and Assessment at Carroll Community College, does a great job of tackling this issue in a recent article that was published in Inside Higher Education, following the release of  Complete College America’s “Time is the Enemy” report.

In the piece, Dr. Clagett points out why any useful measurement of community colleges’ success with student completion must fully take into account the many differences between the students served in our open access institutions, as compared to those attending selective four-year colleges and universities.

Notes Dr. Clagett in the article: “Our current national completion measures for community colleges underestimate the true progress of students, presenting a misleading picture of the performance of these open-admissions institutions.” In the piece, he calls for a new set of metrics to more effectively track student completion rates and notes how Maryland’s community colleges are leading the way in providing a successful measurement model.

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Posted in Completion Agenda

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Maryland’s Community Colleges: Confronting ‘Completion’

Posted on October 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

For decades, Maryland’s 16 community colleges have been in the forefront of providing high-quality, affordable and accessible higher education for students.

They serve a most diverse population with an equally diverse range of academic and career-preparation programs for students of all ages, income levels and backgrounds.

And today, our community colleges are more committed than ever to ensuring that students succeed in completing their educational goals. For some, this may mean completion of an associate’s degree or a certification. For others, it may mean a more seamless transfer to a four-year institution, paving the way for completion of a higher degree.

Fully engaged in the nationwide commitment to the “completion agenda,” Maryland’s community colleges are undertaking a wide variety of initiatives that will ensure more students succeed in earning their degrees or certifications. And they are working closely with the state’s four-year institutions to eliminate barriers that can get in the way of a successful transfer process, which is so pivotal to students achieving their goal of completing a bachelor’s degree.

On this site, we invite you to keep track of the important work that our colleges are doing in this arena. And we’ll keep you posted on other efforts regionally, and nationally, that are helping to advance the “completion agenda.”

Maryland’s community colleges strongly believe that “Support = Success!” We pledge to do all we can to support the ultimate success of the hundreds of thousands of students we are privileged to serve each year.

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Posted in Completion Agenda, Maryland Community Colleges

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