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MCC Daily Tribune

President's Wednesday Message

As we welcome and welcome back our students to MCC, I wanted to take a moment to update you on some new initiatives and programs beginning this fall:

  • MCC students will be able to use their college IDs as universal bus passes. The U-Pass allows them to ride any RTS bus on any route at any time. In addition, RTS has launched a new direct connector route between the Brighton and Downtown campuses that will reduce travel time to about 30 minutes. Our students and the community have responded to the U-Pass with great excitement, so I am interested in assessing its use and value throughout the year.

  • MCC's first full-time Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Calvin Gantt, began work in early August, and in partnership with Vice President Holmes, he has helped organize MCC's first Diversity Conference, The Resegregation of Higher Education: How Diverse Are Our Spaces? The conference has attracted two outstanding national leaders: Excelencia in Education President Sarita Brown and Professor and Endowed Chair in Educational Leadership and Counseling at Prairie View A&M University Fred Bonner, II. I hope that you will find time to attend this important daylong event on October 4.

  • MCC is launching the President's Expanded Cabinet. To promote effective communication, open discussion, and constructive and productive dialogue on MCC's strategic projects and initiatives, I have extended invitations to our shared governance and union leaders and a number of other stakeholder representatives to become part of the Expanded Cabinet. The group will meet monthly beginning in September, with agendas and minutes published to the President's website.

  • One of the ground rules we have around the President's Staff table is to "go directly to the source" with any question or concern, and at least once each month, this space will be dedicated to responding to your questions. Let's try to clear rumors and address concerns before they grow. As always, you can submit questions anonymously via the web--or by email, phone or even in a hallway or Marketplace conversation with me. Here's a question that's come up recently and is quite timely given I am hosting one of these receptions this afternoon:

Question: Who pays for the president's employee birthday receptions?

Answer: My husband and I do.

Each academic year brings its own opportunities and challenges for us as individuals and for all of us as the MCC community--some of these are in sight, some are yet to be revealed. Yet, as we start 2018-2019, I know with great clarity that every day, every semester, every year, our students succeed because of your work, your commitment, your talents, your compassion, and your inspiration. Thank you!

Please share your thoughts on the blog.

Anne Kress
Office of the President
08/29/2018