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Adult Students – Beyond the Textbooks

One of my favorite memories from attending a community college right out of high school was my Intro to Sociology class – 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mr. Cherry was the instructor and he facilitated the class with the measured hand of an orchestra conductor. He knew how to make the course content come to life through the voices of the adult students in the class. He would begin each class with a brief lecture and add a unique twist – he would first ask us 18-year-olds questions to which we would work hard to summon the correct answers based on what we had read from the textbook the previous night. After we provided our often weak, simple answers, he would then ask the older students (who had lived a little) how the particular subject matter applied to real life – think of the difference between reading about marriage, domestic violence, racism, and any other isms and living them. We’d then break into small groups where all of us – younger and older – would devour the content.

I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to have chosen to attend a community college and learn so deeply when so many of my friends attending universities had to learn this same content in a 300-seat lecture hall with 299 other 18-year-olds, taught by a teaching assistant who was still working on their master’s or doctorate. I’m still grateful for what my older student peers taught me back then and for the artful skill of Mr. Cherry, who worked his craft every day.

Here at Mohawk Valley Community College, more than 33 percent of our students are 25 years or older. We welcome and embrace returning adult students. Our adult learner services office provides tremendous support to our older students. The wonderful staff in this office (and the rest of the College) understand that the older you get, the more complex life becomes and the more support you need. The Returning Adult Student Association (RASA) is a key element to our support structure and is one of our most vibrant and active student clubs. It provides peer-oriented support and activities for returning adults and meets every Thursday at 3 p.m. in Room 212 of the Alumni College Center on the Utica Campus.

Many of our returning adults are only able to attend on a part-time basis, taking a few classes at a time. The part-time tendencies of our students are why we have maintained the lowest part-time tuition rate in the state for five consecutive years. I personally find inspiration in every story of our returning adult students – stress from raising children; caring for aging parents; working multiple jobs; taking care of oneself; and then trying to fit in time for a college education – a logistics dance for the ages played over and over again on our campuses. To help understand the power of these stories, I encourage you to take a moment to watch this brief two minute video of one our students.

The other evening, I was leaving my office and encountered an older student in the hallway. We struck up a conversation and I learned his story. He’s here to switch careers and go into health care because he wants to prepare for a future where he can see himself no longer being able to do the manual labor work he is currently doing – he wants to have options in a few years. The focus he has on his studies was inspiring – he knows what he wants to do and why he wants to do it. The life he has lived thus far gave him a vision of how he wanted to change his life by furthering his education and changing careers. Many older students share this focus and add to the diversity of our learning environment and help to make a MVCC an incredible place to learn, grow, and change your life for the better.

If you have any comments on this post, please contact me at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Honor Students & the Courage to Succeed

The Spring 2012 inductees to the Lambda Beta Chapter
of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society at MVCC.

 This fall, MVCC is enrolling more honors students than ever. We have 47 new Presidential Scholars – students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class in Oneida County and received a full-tuition scholarship to the college through the MVCC Foundation. And last spring, our Phi Theta Kappa honor society inducted the largest class ever of honors students whose grade point average was 3.5 or higher.

A new class of PTK honor society members will be honored this Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 3 p.m. in the Theater on the Utica Campus, when our Lambda Beta Chapter inducts this fall’s crop of our best and brightest. The ceremony is open to all who wish to come and be inspired by their success.

So many inspirational and courageous stories come from our non-honor students who have overcome barriers – financial, academic, language, cultural, or previous lifestyle choices that did not lead to academic success. Yet I find a similar inspirational story in the courage of our honor students – they have found the courage to succeed.

Last spring I was asked to speak at an induction ceremony of a local high school honor society. The theme was “profiles in courage.” I was struck by the poise and focus of these high school juniors and seniors and thought of myself at that age. I was inspired enough to leave my prepared notes and talk about the courage to succeed and my own profile. Usually, an honors student needs a 3.5 grade point average or higher to join an honor society. As a high school student I was on the accelerated honors track in eighth grade, but by ninth grade I went back to the regular curriculum track with a fair number of study halls versus advanced placement classes. With my 3.3 grade point average in high school, I was able to stay away from the high expectations that come with a high grade point average, but enjoyed the safety of not falling short of whatever expectations I had. Later in my undergraduate studies, I continued with a safe 3.3 grade point average that was good enough, but with a little more effort certainly could have been higher. It wasn’t until graduate school that I found the focus and determination to reach my potential – and the courage to succeed.

I think that’s why so many of our returning adult students are admitted into PTK as honor students – they know why they’re here and what they want to accomplish. And the dramatic increase in honor students coming directly to MVCC after graduating high school has prompted our attention to reinvigorate our honors program. A recent design team looked at best practices around the country, took the best of our long-standing honors program, and made recommendations to launch exciting new directions to support our ever-increasing number of honor students at MVCC. I’m excited to work with our Lambda Beta PTK chapter again this year and look forward to welcoming another class of honor students into membership this Wednesday. I hope you can join us to celebrate those with the courage to succeed.

If you have any questions, please contact me at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Student Life and Club Day

We Are Ready

One of the biggest challenges to going on a trip is making sure you have everything – making sure you are ready. I had two experiences this summer that got me thinking a lot about readiness. The first was a family road trip for the ages and the other was an experience in physical endurance. Both of these experiences gave me time to reflect on our collective work here at MVCC.

My family and I drove to Florida this summer to celebrate my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary. Since we were driving, we prepared a nine-day itinerary that took us through 13 states where we spent 52 hours in the car and traveled over 3,000 miles – it was a “Griswoldian adventure” to remember. Most of all, it was a lot of time on the open road (and I only had to stop the car once!). Our August Institute speaker, Steve Uzzell, graced us with an amazing presentation where he spoke about the spirit of the open road as the best place to solve problems and get a fresh perspective. Our wonderful summer road trip certainly provided me with a lot of time on the open road.

All that time with my family renewed my focus on what matters – both personally and professionally. As Steve Uzzell said, “the open road provides you with new experiences that lead you to the first step in the creative problem-solving process … that allows you to step away from your immediate world and gives you a visual focal point.” Personally, it reminded me of the importance of a solid work/life balance and that your family gives you that purpose, so we work to live and not the other way around. Professionally, the trip gave me a chance to reflect on the last five years at MVCC and the incredible pace we’ve collectively kept to keep up with pressing enrollment demands and all the work needed to examine what and how we do things.

A few weeks after the road trip, I ran the Warrior Dash with our oldest daughter. It wasn’t exactly a “dash” per se, as the race consists of running 1.5 miles nearly straight up Windham Mountain and then navigating 14 obstacles on the steep descent back down the mountain – obstacles like crouching through drainage tunnels; crawling under barbed wire twice (once in a mudpit); scaling two 20-foot walls; jumping over a ring of fire; and a few others that I’ll likely continue to mentally block. About half-way up the hill, as I worked to thwart what felt like a possible stroke, I started to wonder if I was as prepared for this race as I thought I was – was I really ready? As I took a look at the postage stamp-sized parking lot below and the amazing vista from the mountainside, I realized that the first leg of the race may have been a bit more intense than I thought it was going to be, but taking a moment to regain my sense of equilibrium created in me a renewed sense of readiness for what came next. 

These two great experiences this summer inspired my remarks at convocation last week. The punctuated equilibrium model I mentioned flashed in my mind at the top of Windham Mountain, and has particular resonance with where we are as a College. Tushman and Romanelli (1994) define it as, “organizations … (evolve) through relatively long periods of stability (equilibrium periods) in their basic patterns of activity that are punctuated by relatively short bursts of fundamental change (revolutionary periods) … (that) disrupt established activity patterns and install the basis for new equilibrium periods.” I believe we have certainly worked through a major period of punctuated change at the College and are ready for an emerging period of equilibrium – a period where we embrace our new perspectives and work to fully implement all of the great ideas we have here.

The path in this next period may not be straight uphill, but it won’t be clear or easy, either. I closed my convocation remarks with three guides to keep with us along our path:

• Embracing an abundance mindset, do more of what we do well.
• Connect with students and help them find their way no matter the need.
• Be patient, kind, and respectful to others in all matters.

If each of us can do these three things, we will affirm our sense of readiness and be better able to solve problems – no matter our role or responsibility.

As we start the new academic year, I have a great sense of our collective readiness to confront an ambiguous future. It is time to gather our focus – no new design teams or reorganizations this year – as our time for preparation is complete. We are ready. And keep in mind Steve Uzzell’s quoting of Louis Pasteur, “chance favors the prepared mind.”

If you have any comments on this post, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Commencing a More Vibrant Community

As I reflect on the amazing feeling that comes from shaking five hundred hands crossing the stage at MVCC’s largest graduation ever, the words of Southern Poverty Law Center co-founder Morris Dees – MVCC’s Commencement speaker – linger for me. He told the graduates that they are witness to history and should help make their communities healthier, more vibrant and, most importantly, defined by equality and justice for all. But can we define those adjectives in actionable terms? The crutch phrase too often used in this region, “never too high or never too low in the Mohawk Valley” is a stereotype that glosses over definitions and data upon which we can act toward those more aspirational ends described by Mr. Dees. Why can’t the Mohawk Valley region aspire and pursue a more vibrant, reinvented era of prosperity? If only we had a set of indicators by which we can understand our baselines, align our collective efforts, and pursue focused progress!

Fortunately, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties partnered with Mohawk Valley EDGE and the United Way of Greater Utica to identify a well-defined set of community indicators. You can view the full list of the 80 indicators here and the first annual report card here. At the fourth annual Poverty Symposium hosted on MVCC’s Utica Campus recently, Peggy O’Shea provided an overview of the indicators project and introduced the metaphor of community problems associated with the image of a tree and the indicators representing the roots of that tree – i.e., the indicators project will help us get to the root causes of the greatest challenges we face as a community. The primary challenge is that these indicators are not the sole responsibility of one person or one organization – they summon the attention and intention of all of us! 

Here are some indicators that MVCC is working on with our partners to move the community in a positive direction:

Population by race and ethnicity – As we celebrate the diversity of this region as a strength, MVCC’s nationally recognized and unique Diversity & Global View (DGV) graduation requirement and Cultural Series help our graduates (as well as faculty, staff, and community members!) become more culturally competent and self aware in an increasingly complex global society.

Children living in poverty – Our Gear Up and Upward Bound programs in conjunction with our school district partners provide inspiration and support for low-income and disadvantaged students in grades 7-12 – to help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

Median household income –Household incomes readily increase with better-paying jobs that can only come with additional education and training. Over the past five years, our credit enrollment has increased 25 percent (with more than 7,300 credit students last fall!) and our noncredit enrollment has nearly doubled during that same period. To help ease the financial burden, the MVCC Foundation provides more than 250 scholarships each year with specific funds for single mothers, part-time students, honors students, and many specific to our career programs.

People below poverty – Nothing traps people in poverty more than incarceration. As outlined in Michelle Alexander’s work, The New Jim Crow, we incarcerate our citizens at a rate seven times that of any other developed nation in the world and more African-Americans are in prison today than were enslaved at the height of slavery in 1850. Two thousand nine hundred individuals are released from correctional facilities each year in Oneida County and those who have committed felonies are unable to access food stamps, public housing, or find employment easily. MVCC’s New Directions program provides intake and support services to hundreds of formerly incarcerated individuals and lights the way to positivity and renewal.

Change in total jobs – With a trained workforce, our region can better attract and add jobs. MVCC works hard to match our programs to fill local workforce needs. We just graduated more than 125 nurses and are helping employers fill job openings for airframe and powerplant technicians, machinists, cybersecurity and other high-demand fields. The MVCC Foundation is also helping us launch entrepreneurship initiatives next year to inculcate an entrepreneurial culture of growth and development for years to come.

Student performance in English and Math – We partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Utica to provide the Reading Rangers summer literacy program to prevent learning gaps for low-income children over the summer. We are also working with local school districts to assess math skills for every high school junior in the area and identify curriculum for their senior year to ensure they are ready for college. In addition, with support of the Rome Community Foundation, we are launching the Rome Futures Academy that links literacy skills with career exposure and awareness to make the connection between school and work. 

High School graduation rate – Making that connection between school and work is something MVCC focuses on through our career camps for youth. This year we expect to have more than 40 career camps and serve more than 500 kids by giving them exposure to careers available locally.

College graduation rate – Our Phi Theta Kappa student honor society won a regional award for leading the “Pledge to Complete” program in which more than 600 students, faculty and staff signed to pledge their commitment in supporting student completion and help produce our largest graduating class ever. This past year, MVCC’s graduation rate reached a five-year high. In addition, we have implemented the Pathways to Academic Recovery with intentional interventions and support to help students on academic probation get back on track toward graduation.

Education levels of adults – What if we increased the college-going rate of high school graduates by requiring high school seniors to complete an MVCC admission application in order to graduate from high school? Fortunately, a couple of progressive local superintendents have taken us up on exploring that question and are considering the implementation of such a program next year! In addition, our new Educational Opportunity Center will serve more than 1,000 first-generation college and low-income adults each of the next five years and provide the necessary support to set them on a path for a greater quality of life through further education and training.

Education levels of adults by ethnicity – Our outreach efforts and enhanced support services have increased credit enrollment of African-American students by 66 percent in the past five years and nearly doubled the number of Hispanic students enrolled at MVCC during that same period.

Technology degrees and technology program enrollment as share of total degrees – Founded as a technical institute in 1946, MVCC has remained true to that comprehensive mission and continues to nurture and refine our technical degree programs. In fact, we’ve had a Nanotechnology degree program on the books since 2005 – we just need a chip fab plant built in the area so students can complete the required internship!

When all local organizations review the 80 community indicators and set their focus on the ones by which they feel they can move the needle, we will start to see more consistent and positive developments in the region. Most importantly, we will see a greater alignment in our thinking and our actions – an alignment that could prompt a new saying, “Ever upward in the Mohawk Valley.”

If you have any comments or questions on this post, please contact me at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Prelude to Graduation

We celebrate our graduates this week, but the annual prelude to Commencement is a wonderful tapestry of events and celebrations. Although time and space limit my ability to attend every event, we’ve had small retirement parties, STEP and C-STEP awards, and other department and program celebrations.I was able to attend the Student Clubs award banquet recently to celebrate the wonderful work of Student Congress and the accomplishments of more than 50 student clubs and organizations. Last week I also attended two memorable events to celebrate our scholarship donors and recipients and the success of our Hawk athletics here at MVCC.

MVCC President Randall J. VanWagoner, Ph.D., right, congratulates John Coleman on his two awards,
the Welding Scholarship and the2012 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.

MVCC Foundation Scholarship Dinner

Nearly 300 donors and scholarship recipients attended a wonderful dinner and ceremony celebrating student success and donor generosity. The MVCC Foundation received a record 750 scholarship applications. An all-time high of $250,000 from 86 funds were awarded through 325 scholarships to 225 individual students.

At a time when the total student loan debt in this country will soon break $1 trillion (http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloandebtclock.phtml), the generosity of our donors is significant. Scholarships are critical to helping students minimize financial barriers to pursue their educational goals. MVCC has also done its part to maintain access by keeping tuition as low as possible – having the lowest part-time tuition rate and the sixth-lowest full-time tuition in New York State.

2012 Utica Kiwanis Award winner David Gould with Elaine Falvo at the
65th annual MVCC Hawks Athletic Banquet.

65^th Annual MVCC Hawks Athletic Banquet

We also celebrated the success of our student-athletes last week at an awards banquet for our 22 intercollegiate athletic teams. Our women’s bowling and women’s track and field teams each won NJCAA National Championships this year, bringing MVCC’s team national championships total to 21. The team and individual success across the programs was once again stunning – adding 3 more regional championships (total of 85); 23 NJCAA All-Americans (total of 445); 3 SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar Athletes: Savannah Boucher, Shaniece Brown, Kayla Smith (total of 21). In addition, many of our teams completed community service projects this year, including:

• The Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams participated in the Breast Cancer Walk.
• The Women’s Volleyball Team donated one of their meal money checks toward Breast Cancer Research.
• The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams donated a meal check toward the American Heart Association.
• The Baseball Team donated more than 300 toys/books/games to The Holly Days program, which distributes them to children around the Mohawk valley during the holidays.
• The golf teams used pink ribbon golf balls during a fall outing to support breast cancer research.

Celebrations like these are wonderful reminders of how important our work is at MVCC, but also how important it is to recognize the student success that comes in so many forms here. These events raise my anticipation of graduation even more – where we celebrate a tremendous accomplishment in the lives of our students.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.