April 29, 2026
As we close out Community College Month, I continue to be inspired by the feedback on the AACC Strategic Compass 2035. This is a special presidents’ and chancellors’ portal where you can comment directly on the Strategic Compass 2035 through May 7 by using the tabs in the document.
Also fueling my energy is the deepening of AACC’s redesigned Commissions. As we work to shape our sector’s most urgent priorities the work of the Commissions is vital. I encourage anyone who wants to contribute to apply to serve on a Commission by the May 8 deadline.
Grants for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program opened through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week. Applications to HHS on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) are open until May 29. The new organizational structure reflects the transfer of services to HHS jurisdiction. The grant terms are closely aligned with previous competitions and 148 grants are expected to be awarded.
AACC is closely following ED’s first week of the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking sessions. The draft regulations proposed by ED represent new federal involvement with higher education accreditation. The first week of negotiations included several topics, such as accreditors’ monitoring of student achievement, ensuring public institution compliance with the First Amendment, and new federal policies on transfer of credit. AACC will report out on the final week of negotiations beginning May 18.
For more updates, please join the AACC May 7 government relations webinar. An additional webinar that same week focuses on aligning accreditation with labor market demand using the National Accreditation Commission’s AIHub. Registration for that May 8 webinar is open now.
I had a wonderful time in Ottawa last week speaking to the conference of the Colleges and Institutes of Canada on postsecondary education across North America. I joined leaders from Mexico and Canada who are facing remarkably similar challenges to our own. I was also thrilled to visit SUNY Broome for their convocation and to speak at a regional summit at Borough of Manhattan Community College on shared strategies for regional success.
Today, I am speaking at Connecticut State Community College, which is in its third year after consolidating their 12 community colleges into one. Collaboration is the secret ingredient in such processes—I know from experience—and I am eager to hear what creative solutions have arisen
Congratulations to the 12 finalist teams selected for the 2026 Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). CCIC enables community college student teams to use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to develop solutions to real-world problems. Finalists will travel to Washington, D.C., in June for an Innovation Boot Camp, where they will receive professional development and entrepreneurial training designed to help them turn their ideas into action while also competing for national recognition and cash awards.
Many of us are keeping in touch after the convention in new ways. I want to draw your attention to one: the new AACC iHub, which enables members to join communities to share best practices and create conversations across colleges. The iHub can be a terrific resource for creating conversations across affinity groups and sharing strategies around shared challenges. I hope you will share this new resource with your staff.