UF institute honors three community colleges with national award

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Palm Beach Community College (in Lake Worth, Fla.), Cape Cod Community College (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Meridian (Miss.) Community College have received national recognition for their noteworthy academic or operational programs recently at the nationwide Community College Futures Assembly in Orlando.

The colleges received the Bellwether Award, presented annually at the assembly by the University of Florida College of Education’s Institute of Higher Education.

Three other Florida community colleges were honored as finalists. They were Santa Fe Community College (Gainesville), Chipola Community College in Marianna and Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.

The finalists were chosen from more than 80 community colleges nominated across the country. The three overall winners were chosen from among the top 10 finalists in each of three categories: instructional programs and services; planning, governance and finance; and work force development.

All 30 finalists were invited to present at the 2006 Futures Assembly and selected presentations were published in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice.

Palm Beach Community won in the instructional programs and services category, which recognizes programs and services that foster or support teaching and learning in the community college. Their program focused on a curriculum that was realigned to allow students to progress more efficiently through career pathways. Students could eventually transfer their learning into credit-based Associate in Science degrees and use recognized certificates to give them an employment advantage.  

Cape Cod Community College won in the planning, governance and finance category, which recognizes programs or activities that improve efficiency and effectiveness in the community college.  Their “green campus” program focused on energy management (fuel cell, solar, plans for wind); conservation, composting and recycling; environmental technology and renewable energy curricula; student internships; partnerships across education, business, nonprofits and government; a new “Leadership in Environmental Designs (LEED) certified building; and vigorous fund raising.

Meridian (Miss.) Community College won in the work force development category, which recognizes strategic alliances that promote community and economic development. The award-winning entry described a partnership between Meridian CC and Rush Health Systems’ in delivering training in service management areas such as medical billing, leadership management, computer training, admissions clerk and systemwide customer service training.

Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville was a finalist in the planning, governance and finance category. Integrating Learning Communities into Study Abroad was a joint effort between students, faculty and community leaders in which program participants studied humanities and researched business practices of Russia. The program eventually will incorporate similar studies of Italy, Hungary and Greece.

There were two Florida finalists in the work force development category. Chipola College was chosen for its Innovative Technology in Automotive Training program, which combined integrated hands-on training with a fully integrated, computerized facility. The college worked to design a program to incorporate industry partnership and promote community and economic development.

The Hillsborough Community College program also was a finalist. Its program made online professional development courses available to more than 500 Hillsborough County educators.

Dr. Dale Campbell, professor in educational administration and policy at the University of Florida College of Education, founded the Community College Futures Assembly and the Bellwether Awards in 1995. Campbell was the director of the Institute of Higher Education at that time, and the institute continues to administer the awards program.  

A complete list of the Bellwether Awards winners and finalists is available on the Community College Futures Assembly Web site at education.ufl.edu/futures.

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      Daphne Charles, dcharles83@yahoo.com