Last week, I participated in the first convening of the Rochester Anti-Poverty Taskforce, presenting as part of the Education and Skills Panel. Ambika Howell, an MCC alumna and current director of our Pathways to Success grant, joined me on this panel. Ms. Howell, who holds a master’s degree in public administration, began her college career at DCC after dropping out of high school and earning her GED. She spoke of the outstanding support she received from MCC’s faculty and staff, how it changed her self-perception and self-confidence, and how her MCC experience both prepared her for and inspired her to future success. Ms. Howell is remarkable.
However, the reality is that her story of triumph over the odds is more the exception than the rule. My remarks last Thursday, included below, focused on the many challenges facing the students who most need MCC and the doorway to opportunity that we provide.
If you had the chance to speak to the more than twenty representatives of state and local government convened last week around the issue of poverty in Rochester, what would you have shared? What concerns would you have highlighted? What path forward would you have identified? I encourage you to share your thoughts on the blog.
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Invited Remarks: Rochester Anti-Poverty Initiative Convening
March 5, 2015
Anne M. Kress, President, Monroe Community College
Good afternoon, I’m Anne Kress, president of Monroe Community College. I want to thank Governor Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor Hochul and every office represented on this unprecedented task force for your commitment to our community’s collective effort to eradicate poverty in Rochester.
In beginning my remarks on education and skilled pathways, I want to stress that economic opportunity exists in our community. Along with Paul Speranza from Wegmans and Augie Melendez from the Hillside Work Scholarship Connection, I co-chair the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council’s Workforce Work Group. These leaders from industry, education, labor, community-based organizations, and local government meet every Wednesday morning to work on building the connections across our sectors that will create bridges to opportunity. We know that across our region, thousands of jobs go unfilled even as thousands of residents languish in poverty. We know that—on average—these jobs pay two-thirds more than minimum wage and require—at most—a two-year college degree. Many are attainable with a certificate taking less than a year. We also know that most of these entry-level positions offer a true career pathway that leads to a family sustaining wage and the opportunity for advancement.
Let me attach some figures to this picture. For every $1 a student invests in tuition at MCC, she will see a return of more than $8 in future income (MCC Economic Impact Study, conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists International, 2013). The average return nationally on an associate degree is about $500,000 over a lifetime; the average return on a bachelor’s degree is $1,000,000. MCC offers multiple career pathways in fields such as advanced manufacturing, automotive tech, HVAC, optics systems technology, nursing, dental hygiene, and more where the return for students in lifetime earnings approaches or exceeds $1,000,000 (https://www.workforceforward.com/reports). In other words, these programs are pathways to prosperity, to moving individuals and families from poverty into the middle class and beyond. Opportunity is here.
So, on the one hand: cutting-edge career pathways programs at one of the nation’s leading community colleges designed to industry specifications so that they map directly to thousands of open positions seeking skilled employees. On the other: a community with neighborhoods in which unemployment exceeds 30% and childhood poverty rates that top national lists. What is wrong with this picture?
To answer this question, let me share a socioeconomic portrait of our students at MCC’s Damon City Campus, our downtown location just blocks from where we’re sitting today. In 2014, at that campus
* 36% of our students were struggling to balance college with caring for children; 31% as single parents, almost all of these mothers
* 74% were low income students qualifying for the highest levels of state and federal financial aid
* only 20% had a family member who had attained a bachelor’s degree; the majority were first-generation college students, many were the first to complete high school. Almost 20% were coming to MCC with a GED.
* And, 70% of our DCC students came to us requiring remediation in at least one academic subject: in other words, they came to college without college-level academic skills, such as the math and science required for almost every career pathway I noted above. (all data, MCC Institutional Research)
So, these students—majority minority, majority female—are coming to MCC with almost every risk factor identified in literature on college success. And, this risk is increasing. Let me take just three data points. Over the 8 years from 2006 to 2014, the percentage of our city students who were low-income increased from 53% to 74%; who entered with academic risk increased from 54% to 70%; the percentage who came to us with a GED rather than a high school diploma more than tripled. (all data, MCC Institutional Research).
The reality is that for students facing such significant challenges, every molehill is a mountain, every day is a struggle between staying the course and falling by the wayside. A flat tire, lost bus pass, unexpectedly high utility bill, closed child care center, changed work schedule, untreated physical or mental health concerns, even a missed court date—each could be the difference between dropping out or graduating. Each day, too many of our students have to decide between feeding themselves—and their families—and buying their textbooks. Too many leave classes with no secure home in which to sleep or study. Without a comprehensive community support net, they face terrifying odds.
Yet, as Ms. Howell will share later, despite the obstacles, our students can and do persist; their commitment to build better futures for themselves is inspiring. I hope it inspires all of us gathered today to provide them with the support that they need—and deserve. If we can, our entire community will benefit.
Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
03/11/2015 |