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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Common Read Program at MCC!


The Office of Student Life and Leadership Development is pleased to announce the development of a Common Read program at MCC. Long a practice at other colleges and universities, Common Read programs offer students a shared learning experience and offer faculty a means for collaborating on curriculum and pedagogy across the disciplines. We are excited about the potential for meaningful impact on student engagement and success that a Common Read experience can foster here at MCC.

The Common Read program will be an integral part of the Student Success Collaborate (SSC- Orientation, First Year Experience, and College Success Course) outlined in the Title III; Building a Culture of Engagement and Success project.  This program will occur in phases, the first phase, slated for the 2013-2014 academic year, involves recruiting and preparing faculty from a wide array of disciplines. With support from the TCC, we are planning workshops, discussions, and other professional development activities so that when the Common Read is in place for the 2014-2015 academic year, students will benefit from an already-engaged faculty committed to the project.

The Common Read committee has selected
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot as MCC’s first Common Read book.  With the questions it raises about science, genetic research, medical ethics, gender, race, and more, the book, already used by many institutions in their Common Read programs, is an all-encompassing, cross-curricular read.  There is something in it for nearly every discipline.

To kick-start our 2013-2014 faculty preparation phase, the Office of Student Life and Leadership Development is making the book available to all interested faculty by the end of the semester for summer reading. To reserve a book, please e-mail Jodi Oriel at
joriel@monroecc.edu. We will need to know how many faculty are interested in reading the book over the summer so that we can have enough available to you. We look forward to reading and discussing this provocative book with you in the future.

Jodi Oriel
Common Read Committee
05/14/2013