Beginning this month, selected participants from community colleges, philanthropic organizations, state and local government, and businesses will come together to address one goal: identifying best institutional practices to increase America’s college graduation rate.
The Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) is sponsoring four one-day regional community college summits in an effort to continue strategic conversations started at the first White House Summit on Community Colleges in October. Attendees will discuss the role of community colleges in meeting President Obama’s goal for America – to have the highest proportion of college graduates worldwide by 2020.
Each regional summit will focus on one of the following areas: Serving military personnel, their families and veterans; Supporting the transition of low-skilled adults into community college; Rethinking developmental education, or Creating sustainable business partnerships. Additionally, attendees will take part in panel discussions and breakout sessions on relevant topics (e.g., “Secondary to Postsecondary and Two-to-Four-Year Transfer†or “Industry Partnershipsâ€), and hear remarks from the State’s Governor, the City’s Mayor, and the President of the hosting community college. The regional summits will take place as follows:
February 28: Community College of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
March 9: Lone Star Community College District (Houston, TX)
March 23: Ivy Tech Community College (Indianapolis, IN)
April 15: San Diego Community College District (San Diego, CA)
Week of April 25: Community College Virtual Symposium
For more information, or if you would like to be considered for attendance at one of the regional summits, please see OVAE’s Community College Regional Summits document.
Tags: community colleges, Graduation Rates, OVAE