AACC: Working for Community CollegesPOLICYMAKING- AACC worked to secure a $100 increase in the maximum Pell Grant, to $4,150, in legislation approved by the House Appropriations Committee (for FY 2007). In 2005--2006 academic year, more than 2 million community college students benefited from Pell Grants, receiving over $4.3 billion dollars.
- AACC scored a significant victory in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by convincing that committee to reject the “single definition” in the Higher Education Act reauthorization. This effectively prevents for-profit institutions from accessing additional federal money for which community colleges currently compete.
- AACC successfully advocated for community college priorities in the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Act. The final legislation maintains Tech Prep as a separately authorized program, establishes separate postsecondary performance indicators, and maintains flexible uses of funds that make the Perkins Act a valuable source of support. The association helped to prevent other major eliminations or reductions for key federal programs, including GEAR UP, adult education, and TRIO.
- AACC is working to ensure that Community-Based Job Training Grants become a permanent part of the Workforce Investment Act. Program funding has been set at $125 million, and a second national competition is underway.
IN THE NEWS MEDIA - Newsweek highlighted the role of community colleges in retraining baby boomers. AACC worked closely with the reporter to provide background for the article, which spotlighted community colleges in Massachusetts, Alabama, and Oregon.
- AACC is in regular contact with White House staff. In the 2006 State of the Union Address, President Bush mentioned community colleges and announced the American Competitiveness Initiative. President Bush visited several community college campuses over the past year and delivered the commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, the first at a community college delivered by a sitting president.
- AACC promoted community colleges through deskside briefings with key national reporters, a major workshop engaging higher education reporters from throughout the United States, and ongoing
outreach to electronic and print news media. - A new 1-hour television documentary that provides an in-depth look at the role of the community colleges will premiere in fall 2006. The documentary is being developed in collaboration with AACC and will be distributed to participating PBS channels nationally.
- AACC supported and helped frame messaging for the national “Lessons for Leno” tour, spearheaded by Northwest State Community College (Ohio). The cross-country campaign, ending at NBC’s Tonight Show studios, generated a bonanza of national and regional news coverage for Northwest State Community College and host colleges in major media markets.
- A map has been developed that identifies AACC member community and technical colleges by name and pinpoints their locations in the United States. The map will be distributed to international students and parents, as well as to embassy student advisors, and is available for purchase..
FOUNDATIONS - Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count welcomed 23 new institutions and two new states, bringing the total number of participating colleges to 58 in nine states. Three new funders, The Heinz Endowments, Houston Endowment, Inc., and College Spark Washington are providing funding for the new colleges. The Achieving the Dream initiative was established by the Lumina Foundation for Education to increase access and success for community college students.
- AACC was tapped as convener of the Community College Affinity Partnership (CCAP) -a group of private, corporate and public sector funders including the Ford Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Heinz Endowment, the Lumina Foundation, KnowledgeWorks, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and others working on issues related to community colleges. AACC meets with CCAP members to examine issues of policy and practice related to student success, use of databases and systems, and engagement of business and industry.
WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - A new AACC Center for Workforce and Economic Development, funded by Mott Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education, is implementing a pilot program to help community colleges better work with workforce boards, economic development offices, labor market organizations, and others.
- AACC partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to offer self-defense training to flight crews at designated community colleges. The training is designed to protect crews and passengers against in-air threats and is being marketed to serve more than 186,000 cabin crewmembers of major U.S. airlines.
NURSING AND ALLIED HEALTH - AACC worked to prevent the advancement of proposals in New York and New Jersey that would have kept associate degree registered nurses from practicing nursing if they did not obtain bachelor’s degrees within 10 years of entering practice.
- AACC worked to strengthen the ability of community colleges to expand nursing and allied health enrollments through creation of new programs through the Public Health Service Act.
DEVELOPING STRONG LEADERS
- AACC has hosted Future Leaders Institutes attended by more than 300 participants, 14 of whom have moved into the presidency. Many other participants from Future Leaders Institutes have changed positions, completed doctoral degrees, or made career changes.
SERVING COMMUNITIES - Over $2 million was collected by AACC for students and employees whose lives and educations were disrupted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This included funds from Lumina Foundation for Education, corporations, colleges, and individuals. AACC also served as a central information source in the weeks immediately following the disasters.
- AACC received a 3-year $1.35 million grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service that will develop opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in service learning and learn life skills that will affect their employment, careers, and personal development.
- AACC received a 3-year, $1.1 million grant from the Learn and Serve America program of the Corporation for National and Community Service to develop service learning and civic engagement programs at community colleges nationwide. This grant continues AACC’s 12-year initiative to build and support service learning in community colleges nationwide.
PROMOTING GLOBAL AWARENESS - AACC increased recruitment of international students through fairs, a guide to studying in the United States, and Web site for international students. Over 130 colleges have participated in outreach activities to Asia, Europe, and Latin America to promote the benefits of attending U.S. community colleges.
- AACC’s and the Association of Community College Trustees’ boards endorsed a Joint Statement on the Role of Community Colleges in International Education that focuses on the economic, cultural, and social value of global education in community colleges.
- AACC continues to advance global education through work with the Department of State to ensure that consular officials around the world apply the same criteria to students applying for visas to attend community colleges as they do to all other students.
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