September 2, 2026
I hope the fall semester is starting off smoothly for everyone.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) continues to monitor institutions’ implementation of reporting requirements under the “Financial Value Transparency/GE” and Student Tuition and Transparency System. For any questions on this topic, or challenges with compliance, please participate in ED’s virtual “Office Hours” on September 10. AACC is also hosting a September 10 webinar on our current federal legislative priorities, for which registration is open here.
Campuses are encouraged to file comments by September 21 on ED’s proposed rule on accreditation. AACC will file comments on behalf of the sector, but we also encourage members to submit their own comments. Guidance on such submissions can be found here.
My recent travels to Compton College (California), Pasadena City College (California) and Monroe Community College (New York) gave me a glimpse at the innovations and energy present at each one. I was thrilled to see that Pasadena City College and Compton College are both guided by strategic plans with significant resonance to AACC’s Strategic Compass 2035. At Monroe Community College, I enjoyed a lively conversation with Monroe President DeAnna Burt-Nanna at their College Day Convocation. Among many topics, we discussed ED’s Call to Action, student-centered institutions, and building intelligence from data.
My final stop at the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees leadership seminar allowed me to join ACCT President & CEO Jee Hang Lee for a conversation about how our organizations might work more closely on federal advocacy, presidential pipelines, trustee development, and other priorities. I am grateful to AACC Board Chair John Enamait for orchestrating this opportunity.
The Project on Workforce at Harvard has a new report, The Agile Community College: Dynamic Labor Market Alignment in an AI-Driven Economy. As we all work to align student progress with labor market dynamics, this report has some astute observations about the need for high-quality data and technology to match rapidly moving market signals. The report includes case studies from four community colleges.
AACC’s resilience relies on strong participation from members. Two current opportunities to contribute are by nominating candidates for the 2027 AACC Board of Directors or by submitting an abstract for the January 2027 Workforce Development Institute (WDI), to be held in San Diego, California.