Community Colleges Reclaiming the American Dream
May 8, 2012On April 20th four members of our OrgSync team traveled to the sunshine state to attend the annual conference for The American Association for Community College (AACC). The AACC board addressed the current role of community colleges across the nation and released a strategic plan with innovative ideas to progress the original mission of community colleges in order to “Reclaim the American Dream.”
The American Dream is a national commitment to freedom, and with that freedom comes access to opportunity. Community colleges have long served as the catalyst to increase educational opportunities though access. This year’s conference focused directly on maintaining access to education while finding a way to commit to a standard of excellence. The Commission Report suggested promising practices in order to move community colleges into the 21st century with three main objectives: Redesign, Reinvent, and Reset.
As first time attendees of AACC, the OrgSync team was impressed with the breadth of programs hosted by various leading researchers and community colleges from around the world. We were able to attend numerous sessions focusing on topics such as retention, funding, partnerships, accountability, and technology. Some of the major topics included the Commission Report, which focused on creating standards and strategic initiatives to deliver completion results for community college students.
OrgSync was excited to be part of a conference that focused on monumental changes for the 21st century. Community colleges continue to expand while always looking for improvement plans. The commission report, “Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future,” asks for colleges to thoroughly investigate current campus shortcomings and learn to rethink their current resources.
One particular focus frequently discussed was the ability to focus on the student experience by creating collaborative effort among campus departments, community partnerships, and increased civic engagement and workforce development. While OrgSync has long focused on creating a online Campus Engagement Network, we are thrilled to see that community colleges are pushing forward to provide a cohesive campus network for out future workforce leaders.
We thank AACC for such great sessions and presenters. We look forward to working with many more community colleges and two-year institutions in the future.
