Mojave Community College is excited about all the achievements in 2022. We look forward to making 2023 the year we expand academic and workforce training opportunities to benefit students, business, industry, the healthcare sector and citizens across the University District.

2022 saw a lot of great progress, including a 6% increase in enrollment. We served her 5,079 students seeking a college degree or certificate, and an additional 1,686 citizens signed up for one or more of his non-credit and workforce training options. .

As the recently published book The Great Upheaval notes, higher education across America is at a critical juncture. Some question the value, costs, and benefits of a traditional college degree and the appropriate knowledge and skills that students are or are not taught. Much of the concern is directed at four-year colleges, but for those of us in the two-year college system, this is an opportunity to excel and prove our worth. I have to admit that this is a very exciting time for MCC as it is agile, affordable and has a unique ability to adapt and meet the needs of its students and community. Your Local Community His college is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in higher education. This includes evaluating and implementing new methods to train a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Over the past few years, with the help of our great Chamber of Commerce Board members and ARIZONA@WORK, we have worked together to meet frequently with local leaders in the business, industry, government, healthcare and education sectors. We tried to determine if we were serving the values ​​and needs of our community. And what more can we do to help our students and communities?

We are proud to say that MCC has been highly rated and provided great insight into potential gaps that could be filled. The additions and enhancements we make are results-focused and add to the value our great faculty and student support team currently provides. Local community colleges adapt to meet the needs of their communities and prepare their students for future success.

Significant changes for 2023 include Community and Corporate Education divisions that offer options for those seeking short-term classes and workforce training without college credit. Feedback from the community has made it clear that non-credit employee training his options need to be expanded and tailored to the needs of specific industries. You may have noticed the addition of a cooking class at his North Mojave campus, and a carpentry class for those living in the southern part of the county. These non-credit classes teach applicable industry skills and may be completed in just a few days to a few weeks. , we look forward to continuing to expand our short-term training options and hope to begin building the center soon.

A concern for some students who take these non-credit workforce training classes is the tuition fee. Unfortunately, non-credit training programs do not receive federal financial assistance to students, and Arizona does not financially recognize these programs when funding community colleges. We partnered with ARIZONA@WORK to alleviate that burden. They have the ability to provide tuition assistance to qualified students seeking non-credit workforce training.

In addition to expanding non-credit departments, the university’s academic master plan calls for expansion of several associate degree and certificate programs, what many refer to as university credit courses. Many students start their careers after earning an associate’s degree or certificate, while others choose to transfer her MCC credits to one of our 20 partner universities that offer a bachelor’s degree. Choose. We would like to thank our wonderful faculty, all of whom are experts in their fields, for their efforts to ensure that our credit courses are university-level.

To accommodate expansion and addition of new academic programs, the university evaluates all facilities it owns and manages as community assets. Each campus has 50-year-old modular buildings that can be more expensive to upgrade than replace, and some facilities simply do not meet the needs of students and teaching. Our facilities master plan is currently in the research phase and will identify options to ensure all campuses are safe and meet the needs of current and future students.

I look forward to working with legislators to ensure that the income the college already has can be used to support additional programs and services that will help more people in the college district. Arizona The state’s MCCs and other community colleges are now limited by the state’s archaic spending limit formula, created in the late 1970s and enacted in the 1980s. The educational needs of the current workforce are not considered. A duration training course leading to an industry-recognized credential. Perhaps worse, it helps put the university in debt.

We look forward to continuing to work with our Board members to consider proposals to add degrees, certificates and no-credit options in all of our academic departments. health professionals, welfare, public security departments, career and technical education, general education. , and community and corporate education. As always, improving lives and communities is our priority. We encourage you to visit our website and social media pages to stay up-to-date with what’s happening at the university, and to review our Annual Reports online at Mohave.edu/Admin. . Bighorn to go!