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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


Last Friday, I was in Albany to participate in a panel convened by the Center for an Urban Future: Platforms for Mobility. The discussion focused on the role of New York’s community colleges in providing students with the capacity to achieve economic and social mobility and how this role is constrained by the limited preparation many students bring to our colleges. The audience included a significant number of people with the ability to shape and move state policy and funding, making it appear that the opportunity gap is a top of mind issue in Albany as it seems to be nationally.

In one exchange during the panel discussion, I underscored a simple fact: if community colleges are to be tasked with increasing their students’ opportunity for economic and social mobility, we need increased investment. My colleague and friend from CUNY-Hostos Community College, Felix Matos Rodriguez echoed this point. We could all point to outstanding programs at our colleges and others, but all required significant investment above and beyond our traditional funding levels. President Matos Rodriguez referenced the recent Century Foundation report that identified the significant and growing funding discrepancies between community colleges and other higher education sectors—and how this deficit is increasingly and negatively impacting the success of our students. As an add-on, I raised concerns about how the rising costs of education technologies and regulatory requirements are taking up an ever greater share of our limited budgets.

So, why am I sharing all this with you? Well, we’re entering two interesting periods for higher education. The most immediate is the New York State budget process. New York’s community colleges are once again unified in their advocacy for restoration of state aid, which is still below 2009 levels. The more long term has to do with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is likely begin to pick up steam in 2014. The path this reauthorization takes will be important to MCC on several levels—and I’ll tackle those next week.

For now, then, I’ll leave you with this: the local, state and national discussion about increasing opportunity will include a significant role for--and likely even a level of responsibility assigned to—community colleges. Access and opportunity are part of our mission, and MCC has been helping our community fulfill its promise for over a half a century, building a stronger future for our students and our region. But, our success at this mission requires investment. Know that I am joining with my colleagues across the state to voice our support for investment in the outstanding, inspiring and important work you do. Do you have a story to share about a person or a program that made a difference for an MCC student? Please share it on the blog.

Anne M. Kress
President's Office
01/15/2014