MCC 2020: Sharing the Vision

I’d like to share some thoughts with you about what is now being called “MCC 2020: Sharing the Vision.”  I am sending this to you ahead of time (a) so that you have time to read it and (b) … your reward for (a)! … so that you do not have to listen to me forever on January 16th.

A few years ago, Dean Bavier found some remarks made in 1963 by Dr. Frederick W. Lowe, MCC’s founding president.  He spoke of his “conviction that the community college is an extremely irregular and individual part of our educational pattern.  No community college should match any other.  The function of each is to fit the peculiar characteristics of its community.”  In the same vein and four-plus decades later, I have said on a number of occasions that a truly fine community college -- and I do believe that MCC is one of those -- is profoundly revolutionary.  Revolutionary in the best sense.  In addition to studying and celebrating the best in our inherited culture, we look forward, primarily through our students, to what may enrich our society in years to come.  And we do this with open hearts and open minds.  We do not quite know where the journey will lead us, but we do know that anyone, from whatever background, can not only join us at any time, but can help shape the journey.  We are strong enough that we are not threatened by what Fred Lowe called “a multitude of zigs and zags” that “should come to modify the outer contours and possibly transform the inner body of our part of the educational picture.”

Hopefully without arrogance, we know that Manchester Community College is highly thought of, and deservedly: by the larger community, by baccalaureate institutions as well as the secondary school world, by local employers, by accreditors, by legislators and, above all, by its students.  (Dare I say “customers”?)  So, one might ask, why push the proverbial envelope and seek, yet again, to make MCC into a college that makes sense for the unpredictable future rather than -- or, perhaps, in addition to -- the observable and documentable past?

After almost twenty years as MCC’s president, I am more convinced than ever that institutions -- and individuals also -- remain relevant and lively to the extent that they are willing and able to modify and adapt.  Change for change’s sake is foolish, but resting on one’s laurels leads to atrophy.  Besides, I believe that Manchester Community College is now strong and undefensive enough to contemplate its future yet again, without fear or favor.  Administrators and maintainers, students and faculty, community and support staff: all can join in the discussion to the extent that they wish to, without threat to anyone.  The goal is to have a college where decisions are understood, where any decision can be measured against mutually agreed-upon overall objectives, and where the overall direction is continually enriched by maximal participation and leadership that is shared.  The collegiality that has been building is a means rather than an end, but it is something that we do need to build some more if we are to make the paradigm shift that 2020 calls for.  There is a risk, of course, that we will not satisfy everyone’s escalated expectations.  In particular, shared leadership is not the same as overall consensus … one of the many issues that we need to talk through.

At a personal level, I am enthusiastic about the MCC 2020 initiative, and my enthusiasm has grown during the last 4-6 months.  How many colleges our size can muster over fifty people who are willing to read, prepare and discuss, spending hours every couple of weeks towards goals that are lofty, yes, but also yet to be fully articulated?  The meetings in which I have participated have involved hard work, but have been exhilarating and in no way tiresome.  To put it simply: I thank my colleagues for acting like colleagues, for giving each other -- me too! -- the benefit of the doubt, for listening hard, for being willing to share their thoughts.  MCC 2020 can, in my considered and sober and (I admit) excitable judgment, lead to something extraordinary if we not only wish but work to make it so.  I am especially encouraged by the focus on student success and the emerging understanding of what this can mean.  (As I recently tried to explain to the Board of Governors when they held a meeting on our campus, it’s not about graduation rates.)

As I have said before, and perhaps too cautiously, a process is always more difficult to describe than a tangible product.  And we are at the point now where expectations are high but the ultimate goals may not be as clear as they hopefully will be by June.  Similarly, some people may still be a little doubtful about what some of us are still calling “Utah” … and that’s all right.  A little tetchy skepticism is just fine in an academic institution; but let’s avoid cynicism if we can.

As I said a year or so ago, I came to realize that we had last put together a full educational plan for the College in the early nineties.  We did it the traditional way: we brought in a nationally known consultant, Dick Alfred from the University of Michigan, and, after extensive consultations, he wrote a plan that seemed to make sense and that has stood the test of time.  But 1992 is a long time ago, and it seemed to me that we should be thinking of crafting an educational plan for … well, for 2020.  And the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that we are strong enough as an institution to work through the issues and craft a plan ourselves.  Today, I am even more convinced than I was a year ago that, along with some of our students and some people in the larger community, we can re-create a vision for the future that fits both our dreams and our realities.

And that is why six people – Tom Bavier, Alfred Carter, Ken Klucznik, Sandy Rimetz, Alice Savage and Florence Sheils  –  went to a Greater Expectations Institute in Utah, subtitled Campus Leadership for Student Engagement, Inclusion and Achievement.

The key sentence that they went with was,

The goal of Manchester Community College’s participation … is to develop an overall, coherent plan for improving the achievement and long-term academic success of under-prepared students from widely diverse racial and economic backgrounds, especially the outcomes of students who enter at the lowest levels of the College’s developmental sequence.

Having left with a sentence, they came back with a paragraph:

Manchester Community College is a community of learners dedicated to continuous intentional renewal and responsive to our changing environment.  We are committed to inclusive excellence, improving the quality of teaching and learning and enhancing opportunities for engagement and learning for all of our students.  We have a shared vision of what constitutes a successful student, first in the sense of a student who is prepared to meet the challenges of being successful in his or her college studies, and, second and ultimately, prepared to be successful in meeting his or her goals and in becoming a continuous learner.  Each member of the community takes responsibility for understanding the assets students bring and the challenges that they may meet and for doing what we can to build on their strengths and to help them move beyond the challenges they face and to grow and thrive as students and as human beings.

Mere words?  I hope not.  I hope that, as we continue to read and talk and listen to each other, the paragraph -- or something like it -- acquires real meaning.  As most of you know, there have been regular Wednesday-and-Friday discussions involving over fifty people from all areas of the College.  During the fall semester, the deans and I absented ourselves from most of these sessions.  I hear thoughtful comments from attendees:

• For sure, it was great to have everyone read something in preparation for the meetings.

• People were listening to each other in a new way.

• People were taking responsibility for their words and actions rather than waiting for others to prove themselves (or disappoint!).

• Issues of trust do need to be aired, even though not all of them can be immediately resolved.

The ultimate goal remains to come up with a plan that reflects our collective best thinking for the next 15-20 years.  And it is assumed that the more widespread the involvement in the creation of such a plan, the greater the buy-in; the greater the buy-in, the greater the chances of success.  Inevitably, what I am putting before you is still somewhat vague, and it does not yet involve either our students or the larger community.  Several of you want to move a bit faster, becoming more specific; and being somewhat Type A myself, there are times when I agree.  What I can offer at this time is a couple of examples of MCC 2020: Sharing the Vision in action:

• A group from across the campus is working on sustainability issues. This can connect with the curriculum, with campus planning and with issues in the larger political world.

• People from academic affairs and student affairs have had a planning process for their joint retreat that stressed a collegial process as well as content.

If you have an interest in moving 2020 forward, and I hope you do, I urge you to join one of the groups that will be meeting this spring semester and not to be shy in expressing yourself. 

The mantra is student success.  Anything and everything we do should be measured against: how is this helping our students succeed?  I quote here from the original proposal that was put together last year:

GOALS

• Create a coherent, intentional and renewable climate for fostering student success.

• Promote an environment and climate for student engagement and inclusive excellence.

• Develop a campus-wide consensus …

• Use the results of regular assessment to align programs, policies, procedures and organizational structure with educational goals.

BARRIERS TO ACCOMPLISHING GOALS

• Challenge of developing understanding of and commitment to diversity and inclusion …

• Creating successful co-curricular activities on a non-residential campus.

• Potential territoriality …

• Potential resistance to redefinition of responsibilities.

• Challenge of realigning resources …

• Perception by some of history of lack of follow-through on previous initiatives.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Commitment of upper administration.

• Faculty and staff are energetic and committed, and a strong cohort are open to new ideas.

• Many strong, innovative and successful … programs have already been developed.

• New campus facilities.

The proposal then went on to discuss a communication strategy, actions and timelines.  The last section:

EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS

• Vision statement and goals are embedded in MCC strategic plan.

• Results of institutional research are used to inform planning and implementation.

• Campus consensus on educational goals.

• Learning outcomes have been integrated into courses and teaching and in organized co-curricular programs and structures.

• Increased student participation in College activities.

In the meantime, Chancellor Herzog reminded me of a fact sheet put together by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.  According to Nellie Mae, by 2020:

• The percentage of the young population of Connecticut holding a bachelor’s degree will have gone from 34 to 30.

• The working age population will have decreased.

• The “stunning” exodus of native residents will have continued.

Clearly, our work has been cut out for us.

As I think about our work together, especially in the past six months or so, three things strike me:

• The quality of the people who work here is such that we can take on complex challenges.  I am even more convinced of this than I was in January, 2006.

• Perhaps I should be acting more enthusiastic, more rah-rah, because that is the way I feel.  Well, I agree with part with that sentiment, but would rather celebrate raucously when we are somewhat further into the process.  Please do not misunderstand what may come across as a cautious approach.  For sure, I am spending a good deal of my time on the readings, on discussions with individuals and small groups, on trying hard to re-think where I stand, how I act, and -- just as important -- how I am perceived by my colleagues to be acting.

• The work we are doing is not easy.  It requires sticktoitiveness, and it requires an unusual amount of giving others the benefit of the doubt.

When we get together -- hopefully refreshed -- on January 16th, I hope very much that those of you who have given your time and energy to 2020 will continue; I hope that others will decide to climb aboard.  Anyone who would like to look at the fall semester’s readings should contact any of the six who went to Utah last June (Bavier, Carter, Klucznik, Rimetz, Savage, Sheils) or my office. 

I welcome any and all thoughts on MCC 2020: Sharing the Vision.

Postscript

As I was preparing the above, I began to read Tough Choices or Tough Times, The Report of the New Commission on the Skill of the Academic Workplace, National Center on Education and the Economy, Washington, D.C., John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2007.

On page 26, the authors write of the shift that needs to take place within ten years from routine work to creative work.  And on page 34, they display “AMERICA’S LEAKY EDUCATIONAL PIPELINE: for every 100 9th graders: 68 graduate on time; of those, 40 enroll directly in college; of those, 27 are still enrolled the following year; of those, 18 earn an associate’s degree within 3 years or a B.A. within 6 years.  82 don’t make it!”

We have work to do!