MCC Daily Tribune

MCC Included in Article on DEI

MCC was among the local colleges and universities interviewed for the Rochester Beacon's Aug. 25 article "Fostering equity," focusing on what institutions are doing to attract, retain and support historically underrepresented students. 

President Burt-Nanna is quoted in the article. Some key takeaways include:

-- "One thing that our data is telling us, is that within the next four to five years, MCC will become a majority minority-serving institution. About one to two years after that, we will proudly hold the distinction of being a Hispanic-serving institution and that is a reflection of demographic changes in our region, our state, as well as the nation.”

-- One of the important factors in helping serve MCC students is the SUNY Guided Pathways program. MCC was in the first cohort of schools participating in the program.

--  The Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center offers job training, particularly in technology-oriented fields, and gives students hands-on experience to eventually launch their careers.

-- During the first several months of the pandemic, while some students struggled with hybrid and remote learning, “for others, it was a rescue lifeline for them, because they were able to adjust to their children being in the household all the time. They could continue their career progression without disruption because we were agile and responsive.” 

-- “The faculty were able to see more transparently the living conditions of our students. Their hearts have always tended toward our students and perhaps now all the more. There’s a sense of urgency that Covid provided all of us, and on behalf of our students and on behalf of our communities.”

--  MCC is studying the intent of our students to better serve them.  “The populations of students who enter into high wage fields like STEM, what does that demographic look like at MCC? We do know that we have that data. And how well are their earnings looking in comparison to students that are not from a minority population? We know that as well. The commitment then becomes what do we do about that disparity to close those gaps? That’s the work that we’re committing to.”

St. John Fisher University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Rochester were also quoted in the article.

Hency Yuen-Eng
Community Relations
08/29/2022