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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


Last week, I had the opportunity to be invited to two significant meetings. The first, the Clinton Global Initiative – America, focused on finding solutions that promote economic recovery. My work group, Financial Opportunity, explored and established commitments around new methods of building assets for low income citizens that would create pathways into the middle class; I was invited to participate based on MCC’s innovative new Save for Success partnership with ESL Federal Credit Union and PathStone. The second, the Transatlantic Dialogue, is co-sponsored by the American Council on Education, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and the European University Association. This invitational meeting is held every two years and brings together presidents, rectors, and vice chancellors from the United States, Canada and Europe to engage in an in-depth conversation on shared higher education issues. This year’s meeting was held in Toronto and focused on reputation, public opinion and accountability. The relatively small number of participants allows for a true dialogue: 38 participants representing the US, Canada, and nine European countries.

As you might imagine, I’m still reflecting on these two experiences and how they can inform our work at MCC, but wanted to share some key takeaways and early learnings:

--Traditional models are shifting across the board, in higher education and beyond, no matter the country or sector. Every college leader at both meetings described external pressures and internal expectations from students that are up-ending and destabilizing our institutions. This reflects the same changed landscape confronting other sectors: in the Financial Opportunities work group, the diversity and sheer number of alternate financial services models was overwhelming and reflected the “unbundling” that is often described as the future of higher education. Interestingly, in all discussions, the need to put the service-user at the center of system design and redesign was paramount (whether we the student in higher ed, the customer in financial services, or the client in social services).

--Pathways into economic opportunity for low income families and neighborhoods are difficult to find without access to quality education. Raj Chetty, Professor of Economics at Harvard, presented data from his equality of opportunity study: children in the lowest fifth income bracket have only an average 7.5% chance of moving into the top fifth. However, in some zip codes, this chance increases significantly. Why? Chetty’s data reveal several causal factors. Most important for us, access to high quality teachers and schools—at all levels, with a special emphasis on primary schools—has a real impact on mobility. At both meetings, the role that higher education institutions are increasingly expected to play in advancing their communities was evident, and the sense that the policy and funding environment in all countries is moving toward formalizing these expectations was a theme at the Transatlantic Dialogue.

--Collaborations and partnerships are no longer an option for higher education institutions; they are a necessity. As expectations increase and resources decrease, colleges need to look outside of themselves. While we might disagree, surveys of public opinion in the US, Canada, and Europe suggest that higher education is being held responsible in part for rising unemployment rates among young graduates, and that we are being held accountable for rising levels of student debt. In an era of ever-declining resources, to address these challenges and reverse this course, we must identify collaborations and partnerships that add value for our students. This is easier said than done, which is one reason why MCC was invited to CGI-America: Save for Success provides a great public/private partnership model. Other collaborations held up as models cover expected and unexpected pairings: for example, Siemens partnership with the North Carolina Community College System and Country Music Television’s collaboration with the American Association of Community Colleges to promote college attendance in Appalachian communities. The message was clear: colleges need to look well beyond our institutional borders to build new foundations for our work.

Time and time again, MCC’s strategic directions and ongoing community-based efforts were supported by the conversations and action plans at both meetings. Some examples include
--our Strive Network collective impact effort ROC the Future
--our partnerships with RTMA and Ibero on the accelerated Precision Tooling program that links workforce training to jobs and economic/community development
--this summer’s Be a Healthy Hero summer camp in partnership with the Greater Rochester Health Foundation
--the Early College International High School and upcoming PTECH in collaboration with RCSD
--the roll out of our mobile learning labs in partnership with the Seneca Waterways Council-BSA and Hillside Work Scholarship Connection
--our focus on civic engagement through service learning, AmeriCorps, the Democracy Commitment, and Opportunity Nation
--and newer discussions with Action for a Better Community about integrating workforce skills building for parents into Head Start, and with the City of Rochester about leveraging community centers as college entry points.

In fact, every time I introduced myself at CGI-America, the immediate response was, “Monroe Community College. Wow! We’ve been watching you; your college is doing amazing work!” Thanks to all of you—your spirit of innovation, your commitment to our community—we are.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about these themes. How do you see them playing out in our community? Let me know on the blog.

Anne M. Kress
President's Office
07/02/2014