Skip to main content

MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Wednesday Message


Our enrollment at the college this fall is pushing 20,000.  Regardless of their reason for attending (proximity, cost, program or one of many others), all of our students have high expectations regarding MCC’s quality, and we deliver.  Many of our students come less than ideally prepared, and we have programs to assist them in moving forward toward their goals, providing a support net of services to catch them when they fall and buoy them up to meet our expectations.  Another, growing group of our students come ready to push right past the bar set by our expectations; they arrive at MCC looking for new intellectual challenges and a rigorous academic community.  A couple weeks back, I had the opportunity to meet with some of these students, participants in MCC’s Honors Institute, and many of their faculty.  Their collective enthusiasm for inquiry and learning was on full display as we talked through a concept for the next iteration of the institute:  the MCC Honors College. 

The premise for this shift rests in the college’s mission and values.  MCC opens the door of access to a diverse student population, offering quality education, excellence in teaching, and an innovative curriculum to promote student success.  As we open this door, we have a responsibility to address the needs of students all along the academic spectrum.  Historically, community colleges have developed extraordinary programs for students in transitional or developmental studies.  And, without question, this work is fundamental to our mission.  However, we also need to focus institutional attention and resources on the most academically gifted among our students, especially as the number of these students increases.  Within just a few years, community colleges are poised to become the point of entry to higher education for the majority of all students, and they already serve the majority of African-American and Latino students seeking degrees.  The diversity of our community is reflected in our hallways (no matter which demographic variable you choose), and honors students come in every stripe and pattern.  Our expectation is that the Honors College will reflect this diversity, strengthening the students’ experience by connecting the classroom to our community (local, global, and virtual) in ways only MCC can accomplish.   

This is the genesis for the Honors College—the desire to create a comprehensive approach to honors education that builds on the existing institute and expands the universe of services available.  Essentially, we would be creating a college within the college: an incubator for scholarship and engagement.  In October, we will convene an initial discussion on the next steps.  If you have ideas to share, please let me know. 

Next week . . . keeping ourselves honest.

PS—Several of you emailed me great ideas regarding Economic and Workforce Development.  Thank you!  If you have thoughts on that topic, keep them coming; they’re forming part of the context for the re-vision of Economic Development at MCC.  Also, I’m working with ETS to get a way for these conversations to continue online, so stay tuned.

Anne Kress
President's Office
09/30/2009