2016-2021 AMP Implementation Updates (January 2019)

Dear Colleagues,

I am honored and excited to share the second Academic Master Plan Implementation update. This report reflects the great collaborative efforts of the Academic Affairs divisionnew window - faculty, staff, deans, and provosts. It reflects the interactions of individuals and groups across the College. It reflects the intellect and energy of our division and our joint commitment to our students.

In today’s dynamic environment, we must be responsive, agile, and proactive. Our approaches are multi-faceted: The use of OERs continues to expand; z-course and z-degree offerings are growing; a fifth online degree has been submitted for approval; a new certificate in Homeland Security is being added to other recently approved certificates in Cloud Computing and Data Science; a new AAS degree in Polysomnography Technology joins the recently approved Bioinformatics degree. English and Reading redesign and math redesign, as well as alternative placement, are responsible for significantly fewer students being trapped in the quicksand of developmental courses. ELAP meets the language and academic needs of a linguistically diverse student community. Demand for winter term courses continues to grow. The Scholarship for Excellence in Teaching has been implemented. These are only a sample. You are, by now, well familiar with the six Division goals and the six AMP initiatives. In the following pages, you will see updates, highlighting the work that you and your colleagues are doing.

General education courses cultivate the foundation on which deep discipline and interdisciplinary learning can occur. Flipped classrooms, team-based experiences, embedded coaches and learning assistants are changing the classroom experience. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Early College Programsnew window, which will be offered on all campuses next year. The International Economic Development Council suggests that “fundamental changes in the economy and nature of work require reimagining the workforce development system – ideally, as an ecosystem of institutions guided by a lifelong learning approach. . . Existing institutions – K – 12, community colleges, universities – will need to reframe their services to best serve learners.” We are doing this. We are altering pathways from K-12 to career.

The 2014 restructuring of the Academic Affairs Division is proving to be a catalyst for the great work that is being done. Deans and VPPs with Collegewide responsibilities and content expertise, and 12-month department chairs coupled with phenomenal faculty and staff, are producing the kind of change that fosters student success and is so critical to our ability to ensure that students are well prepared for their next step. What impresses me, and is implicit in this document, is the talent we have assembled in the Division and the Collegewide collaboration and teamwork. We have welcomed a new provost, new deans and department chairs, and new faculty, adding to the momentum to achieve common objectives. The signature asset of the Academic Affairs division is our talented team. Your creativity and passion ignite the excitement for discovery and learning in students from their first encounter until they are engaged alumni. Together, your incredible performance, highlighted here, is reforming and transforming students’ lives and Montgomery College.

Sanjay Rai, PhD
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs