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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


As we round the corner into summer, I first want to thank those of you who attended the Faculty Senate meeting last week—and thank the Faculty Senate itself for allowing me a (large) portion of its agenda to respond to questions and to share thoughts about change, at MCC and in higher ed overall.

Higher education news of late has been flush with news about change and its impacts. In California, the leaders of all systems are set to retire after years of struggling with enormous budget cuts and unmet enrollment demand. In Virginia, a new and prominent president resigned under pressure as its Board struggled to understand and respond to a changing educational landscape. From Massachusetts to California, prestigious universities are launching MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) with the real potential to change the way students engage in higher education. And, just a couple months back, AACC released a report designed to set the stage for the next few decades of community college policy and practice. Clearly, this is not just a “business as usual” time in our field: our context is changing … dramatically.

You’ve already heard from me on this topic, and if you’re like me, you’re really tired of hearing me talk! Let’s open up this conversation to other voices. Last week I shared a quote from Terry O’Banion’s article, “Change and the Completion Agenda.” Over the summer, each member of president’s staff will take over this Wednesday Message to share her or his response to this influential article on change, learning, students and community colleges. They will reflect on how all of the swirling changes in higher education impact their work, their offices/divisions, and their focus on student success. At the end of the summer, we’ll compile these short essays and share them on All College Day.

These essays—in tandem with MCC’s new strategic plan “Fulfilling the Promise,” also launching this fall—will create the framework for a series of college-wide discussions over the next academic year. These conversations will address a single question: What could/should/will MCC look like when “Fulfilling the Promise” concludes? Each conversation will place the plan in a different context—teaching/learning, academic pathways and programs, online education, leadership, student success, community partnerships, accountability, etc. Your voices will lead and shape these dialogues, with each resulting in its own short essay: a vision of what MCC could/should/will be from your perspectives.

Change is hard. It is uncomfortable, messy, uncertain, and—to be sure—scary. But, as O’Banion notes, it also forms the crucible in which community colleges build and secure their identities and values. I look forward this summer to reading the diverse reflections on change from college leadership and to hearing and reading the reflections of our most significant leaders—our students, faculty, and staff—over the coming year, as MCC (in O’Banion’s words) “unleashes [our] creative pioneers.” First up, Jeff Bartkovich.

    Anne M. Kress
    President's Office
    06/20/2012