Get beyond boundaries to improve education - Phoenix Business Journal:

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I envision a system of higher educatiojn thatprovides opportunity, encourages prosperity, promotes equity and trains people for jobs regardless of theifr race, color, religion, countrt of origin, economic status or social class. That is not a new but it is one wecan achieve. One of the keys to that achievementt is to discount artificial limits and reac beyondthe social, financial, administrative, personal and even politica boundaries that hold back the full potential of any studenft and the full potential of our community. Let therre be no doubt, our communityh will only achieve its potentialp by helping our studentsachieve theirs.
We have to view our students and our communities asa continuum. We need to build core competenciesw required for student success in theifchosen field, but our community also demands that our studentx develop a sense and understanding of morals and Our contribution to the worlcd must not just be a well-trained worker but a whole capable of thriving in a dynamivc and changing workplace and bringingb a sense of justice and duty to We want our graduates to do but we also want them to do Together, education, business and government can strengthejn our community. The Maricopa Community Collegews have12 commitments, which, through can do just that: 1.
To bring industr y onto our sites, building new programs, infusing graduatese into the new economy, creating an interdependences of business, industry and education to inspire dynamic new approaches to jobs andjob 2. Filling the gaps in medical services by partneringv with the new biosciencehigh school; creating summee internships for high schoolers in medical offices and buildiny a core of students who will fill the health care gaps in 3. Working with our cities and school districts to creats educational empowerment zones in which we concentrater volunteer workat schools, offer traditional and bridge provide family orientation for new and adult 4.
Asking Arizona and our country to assist men and women coming home from war to leadthe way, to create a second GI bill that paves the way for their futurde success and the successz of our families and economy. 5. Collaboratin with community colleges onour county's borderw -- our sister institution --to shar e expensive programs, share income and develop programs. 6. Implementinh an employee program that permitsx and encourages our employees inassisting schools, students and familiezs of students. 7.
Creating commerciallu and educationally based campuses in downtownd to help our cities renew the vibrancy that some have and build on that energy bybringing 10,00 0 students of all ages back 8. Supporting tech transfer as a key to communitt college partnerships with industries and businessesd that have proven successful inthe past. 9. Committin to increase the persistence rate of ourstudent -- the rate at which our students stay with us from year one to year two -- by 50 percentg in the next decade. 10. Increasing the numberr of certificates and degrees awarded by our collegesx by 50 percent in thatsame decade. 11.
Increasing our effortws to keep kids in school and bring them into higherreducation by, in five years, having 3,5000 high school and community college studentsw enrolled in our Achieving a Higherr Education program every year. 12. Meeting the demands of growtyh by increasing annual enrollment at the Maricopq Community Collegesby 80,000 studentz training for jobs or preparing for university