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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


In Fall, MCC was the only New York community college to participate in the Wisconsin HOPE Lab's national study of basic needs insecurity in higher education. In the end, more than 33,000 students at 70 community colleges across 24 states completed the survey, which asked students to respond to questions on basic needs in food, housing, and finances. The final report, Hungry and Homeless in College, focuses on identifying and bringing to light the fundamental challenges community college students face in meeting essential daily needs as they struggle to complete the degrees necessary for their financial futures. The goal of this work is to call on our colleges, faculty, staff, and administrators to advocate for and adopt practices, policies, and funding strategies that will help our students succeed in college.

While it is easy to point fingers at Albany or DC, we need to recognize that many of the changes that would assist our students are well within our own control. In each of our departments and offices, we could make changes—both big and small—that would positively impact the likelihood that our students will succeed. To support our students overcome their challenges, we need to challenge ourselves to be certain we’re not closing our open door of opportunity. Part of this process is understanding who our students are and what they experience each day, so for each category of need, I’ve shared MCC’s data. I’ve also included just one thing we’re doing in response. My questions to you: What else are we doing? AND What more can we do? I’ll look for your responses in the comments on the blog.

Hunger

--35% reported Food Insecurity at the highest USDA levels
--51% reported Skipping Meals because of cost
--39% reported Being Hungry but not eating because of cost

Six MCC staff members recently completed a course from IDEO on Human Centered Design, which teaches a design approach to create innovative, effective, and sustainable social change. The team selected student hunger as its focus and is preparing to launch a prototype of a food wagon named DWIGHT (Doing What Is Good and Healthy Together). DWIGHT will be used to engage and educate students: student leaders will take “him,” stocked with healthy snacks and foods, to student lounges. The goal is to reduce the stigma of food insecurity and connect students to resources at MCC (like the Food Pantry) and the community (such as FoodLink and SNAP benefits).

Housing

--52% reported some level of Housing Insecurity
--12% reported being Homeless
--14% reported Moving more than 2X in the past year

Thanks to generous support from donors to the MCC Foundation, MCC has partnered with Single Stop to offer access to social benefits onsite at our downtown campus. While Single Stop connects students to a host of programs—including assistance with child care, transportation, and food—one of the most impactful connections has been to housing. Faculty have shared stories of finding MCC students pushing sleeping bags into the lockers at DCC and learning that they were homeless. In one instance, after a faculty member reached out, a student shared that she had been sleeping under the overpass each night. Referrals to Single Stop have helped these students—and so many others—meet a very basic need: shelter.

Finances

--50% reported Borrowing Money to pay bills
--31% reported being unable to pay the full Utility Bill
--25% reported having an account go into Default or to Collections

We often say “time is money,” but for many of our students, this isn’t a metaphor: it’s real life. For students who are juggling multiple part-time jobs to support themselves and families, the difficult distance between registration and graduation can seem to stretch well past the horizon, and each additional credit, course, and semester can make the road longer and more treacherous. When MCC accelerated the Precision Machining Certificate, we did so to help close a serious workforce skills gap in our region and to connect students to economic opportunity. What we did not anticipate was that the success rate of students in the program would almost double. Extending the class day and cutting the program from one year to six months meant students could budget their finances and their commitments on a more predictable timeline. The feedback from employers has been that the graduates from the accelerated program are achieving in the workplace. And feedback from the students has been outstanding: they’ve found employment and are now earning money for their time.

I have asked the Provost and Vice Presidents to assure that food, housing, and financial security—as well as equity—are included in discussions in their divisions. MCC’s mission is to champion opportunity, innovation and excellence to transform lives and communities. We need to assure all students have the chance to fulfill their potential as we fulfill this mission.

Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
04/05/2017