2011

www.merldlanstar.com ECCC competes for $1MAspen Prize

Special to The Star

tion acknowledges the quality of the instructors and students that we have at the College." Each of the 120 colleges ranked has demonstrated high standards for learning, college completion without delay, and community col– leges as training grounds for jobs that pay competitive wages, making them eli– gible for the prize, according to a press release from the Aspen Institute. The 120 community col– leges announced were selected from a national pool of nearly 1,200 using publicly available data on student outcomes. The data was analyzed by an expert advisory committee. The data focuses on completion , considered from three per– spectives. each weighed equally: • Performance (reten– tion, graduation rates including transfers, and degrees and certificates per 100 "full time equivalent" students) • Improvement (improvement of comple– tion performance over time)

• Equity (institutional record for completion out– comes for disadvantaged students) The 120 community col· leges named are eligible to submit applications con– taining detailed data on degree/certificate comple– tion (including progress and transfer rates), labor market outcomes (employ– ment and earnings) and stu– dent learning outcomes. They must demonstrate that they deliver exceptional stu– dent results, use data to drive decisions, and contin– ually improve over time. The Aspen Institute's mission is to foster values– based leadership, encour– aging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and bal– anced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues, according to its Web site. The institute is based in Washington, D.C., Aspen, Colo., and Maryland's Eastern Shore. A Finalist Selection Com– mittee of former community college presidents and fac-

ulty, along wtth researchers and policy experts, will review extensive data reports submitted by each participating community college to select eight to 10 finalists. The final group will be named in September, and site visits will be made to each college. The Aspen Prize will honor excellence, shine a spotlight on community col– leges that deliver excep– tional results in student completion rates and work– force success, stimulate innovation and define suc– cess, according to the insti– tute's Website. Crediting the faculty and staff of ECCC for this recog– nition, Sutphin said, should ECCC win, the prize money would directly benefit the faculty and staff. "I would like to begin by adding to the endowment of the Faculty Excellence Fund for staff develop– ment," he said. Four other Mississippi community colleges- Delta, Pearl River, Hinds and Mis– sissippi Gulf Coast- are among the 120 finalists.

DECATUR- East Central Community College has been named to a list of national two-year colleges under consideration for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excel– lence. The prize-winning col– lege will be chosen in December. Officials at ECCCwere notified of the college's selection just on April 25 in Washington, D.C., said ECCC President Dr. Phil A. Sutphin. "East Central is honored by this recognition," he said. ''To be selected as one of 120 community colleges out of almost 1,200 to com– pete for the Community Col– lege Excellence Award based on publicly available performance measures is tremendous. The notifica- days before the official announcement Sutphin

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