MCC Faculty honored with Governor's award for Excellence in Teaching

Four Metropolitan Community College faculty members were honored with the Missouri Governor's award for Excellent in Teaching.

The award ceremony, which was part of the Missouri Community College Association's Rally Day in Jefferson City on Wednesday, honored 19 faculty members from community colleges across the state.

"Truly, there has never been a more important time for the work you are doing," Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said to faculty members at the award lunch on Wednesday.

Faculty members honored from MCC were:

George Blomster
Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics
MCC-Penn Valley

Dr. Anne Dvorak
English Instructor
MCC-Longview

Robyn McGee
English Instructor
MCC-BLue River

Stephanie Zerkel-Humbert
English Instructor
MCC-Maple Woods

For more photos from the event, be sure to check out the MCC-Longview photo blog.

Gov. Nixon Announces Workforce Initiatives at MCC-Maple Woods

MCC Launches State-funded Logistics Training

A workforce development grant that Gov. Jay Nixon announced last spring is coming to fruition this week as Metropolitan Community College launches the first of a series of pilot training programs.

The Certified Logistics Associate (CLA) course is part of the governor’s Training for Tomorrow initiative, a program launched in January to educate Missourians for careers in growing industries. In conjunction with Buchanan, Cass and Platte counties, MCC received the first grant awarded as part of the state-wide program, in the amount of $2.22 million.

The CLA course addresses the growing workforce needs of the local and regional transportation and logistics industry.

“This training is essential for our area,” said Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort. “The demand for logistics specialists, especially entry-level workers, will continue to grow as Kansas City maintains its position as a major transportation hub.”

A second, more-advanced course in Certified Logistics Technician is slated to be piloted in January. Additional courses in supply chain integration and courses in healthcare, animal health and small business operations are under development. MCC will roll out more than 25 courses over the next two years. These courses are being coordinated by the MCC Institute for Workforce Innovation.

The CLA course is designed to train both incumbent logistics workers who need skills enhancement and entry-level workers new to the industry. Participants enrolled in this week’s pilot course include workers from Smith Electric Vehicles, Pure Fishing, InnovaPrep, and several other Kansas City area manufacturers, as well as individuals from other industries who have recently been laid off.

The pilot, which is being offered at no cost to participants, will be held Thursday, Oct. 21 at the Platte County Resource Center, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, Kansas City, Mo. 64153.

Coordinating Board endorses strategic goals for higher education

Sedalia – The Coordinating Board for Higher Education endorsed Governor Jay Nixon’s strategic initiatives for higher education at its regular board meeting Sept. 10, held at State Fair Community College in Sedalia.

The board applauded Governor Nixon’s leadership and charged Interim Commissioner of Higher Education David Russell to begin work on achieving the strategic goals. Russell and the staff of the Missouri Department of Higher Education were specifically directed to:

·Conduct an inventory review of degree programs to identify those that do not meet established productivity criteria;
·Prepare, in consultation with the institutions, an inventory of existing cooperative and collaborative academic programs and submit that inventory to the board no later than December 2010;
· Convene a task force to review and possibly revise the existing higher education funding model to put more emphasis on the mission and performance of public institutions, with results to the submitted to the board by June 2011;
· Work with institutions to identify innovative ways to provide support services and deliver academic programs more efficiently, including but not limited to sharing resources and expanding collaboration, and to share best practices with other institutions.


“It is a new day for public institutions of higher education in Missouri,” said Tom Vansaghi, associate vice chancellor of college and community relations at MCC. “ In many ways MCC is ahead of the game in terms of collaborating with other institutions and emphasizing results and efficiencies. MCC will need to place growing emphasis on initiatives like the Institute for Workforce Innovation to build long-term funding streams to withstand cuts we know are coming from the state over the next few years.”

Russell says the department will immediately begin to review approximately 4,000 academic programs at public institutions. Programs that do not appear to meet the board’s productivity criteria of producing 10 graduates per year (calculated over a three-year average) at the baccalaureate level, five majors per year at the master’s degree level, and three majors per year at the doctoral degree level will be identified for further study.

Institutions will have an opportunity to comment on the results prior to a preliminary report to the Coordinating Board in December.

MCC-Penn Valley hosts Economic Development Forum

On Sept. 24, MCC-Penn Valley hosted one of six planned team forums for regional leaders from business, labor, higher education and economic development entities to solicit their feedback for the construction of a comprehensive economic development strategic plan. The event was planned by the Kansas City Regional Planning Team of the Missouri Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth coordinated by the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED). Over 70 participants utilized an audience response system to provide interactive responses to questions and statements.

Forum topics included data on the state and regional economy and key issues affecting business growth. Officials from DED electronically collected recommendations and priorities on proposed strategies from the participants. A second round of regional forums, scheduled for mid-December, is planned to finalize the recommendations for specific tactical plans to implement the strategies.

Governor Jay Nixon closed the forum by pledging his support of MCC and stressed the importance of community colleges as a key part of the solution to creating a sustainable, 21st century growth economy.