Last week, Monroe Community College was officially reaffirmed as a League for Innovation in the Community College Board Member! Now that the work that went into this process is over, it seems a good time to ask: “What does this mean for MCC?”
According to the American Association of Community Colleges, there are 1,173 two-year colleges in the United States. Of these, just 18 are board members of the League—that’s less than two percent! MCC is the only community college from the Northeast and New York to serve on the board. All of this is simply to say that we’re part of a select group of colleges with a keen and clear focus on innovation in service of student learning and success.
In a Wednesday Message last February, I proposed a new definition of innovation for the college, writing that “at MCC, innovation doesn’t just mean doing new things, it also means seeing and doing things anew.” With the attention being paid (at long last) to our sector of higher education has also come a consistent call for community colleges to do just this: to rethink our practice so that greater numbers of students achieve greater success. The tension in this call to action is that it comes at a time when resources are increasingly restricted and enrollment is rising.
This tension is where I would suggest that our membership in the League comes into play. Historically, innovation is born out of creative tension. Organizational development expert Peter Senge notes that it is triggered by the gap between “seeing clearly where we want to be and telling the truth about where we are.” He continues, “With creative tension, the energy for change comes from the vision, from what we want to create, juxtaposed with current reality. . . . With creative tension, the motivation is intrinsic.”
In other words, at MCC, we don’t change for change’s sake, we change because we know the result will create better results for our students and our community. We are a learning college. We stretch forward and move ahead because (in the familiar refrain) “there’s more to MCC.”
In an essay released in advance of Tuesday’s White House Summit on Community Colleges, Dr. Jill Biden urged our colleges “to do more than they ever have in their 110-year history [because] they are uniquely positioned to help millions more people meet their dreams for a better life and to help our nation build a strong economic future.” At MCC, as one of only 18 League community colleges, we know not just how to dream a better future but also how to plan for it and make it happen. These are exciting and interesting times, and we’re honored to be at the League table and in our community moving innovation into action.
Where do you see innovation at MCC?
Let me know on the blog.