Dual Mission Conference - Colorado Mountain College

Join us in Glenwood Springs, CO for the fourth annual national summit examining the rapidly growing national movement of dual mission colleges and universities.

Examine the role of dual mission institutions
Network with professionals who are experts in the dual mission model
Define the future of the dual mission movement

Registration information coming soon.

Questions? Send us an email at dualmission@coloradomtn.edu.

About dual mission institutions

Dual mission institutions offer a combination of certificate programs, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees under one roof. These institutions often come in the form of community colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees or baccalaureate colleges that also offer associate degrees.

Dual mission institutions may be either public or private, but are generally open access and significantly more affordable than other colleges and universities. Other key pillars of dual mission institutions include: streamlined pathways for students, nimble operational structures, and close-knit community and workforce partnerships. Because of their “hybrid” nature, they may also not “fit” well in traditional Carnegie or other post-secondary classification systems.

For the past several years, dual mission institutions have joined together to hold summits in Utah. Organizers of these conferences have identified nearly 400 colleges and universities operating as dual mission institutions in the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and beyond. Efforts are underway to gather information and data to more accurately report and formalize the network.

The dual mission model has been featured in several leading publications examining the future of higher education:

In a recent Inside Higher Ed guest column, Jamie Merisotis, president of Lumina Foundation and Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, president & CEO of Colorado Mountain College succinctly framed the role that dual mission institutions fulfill:

“...a key strength in the dual mission approach [is] meeting today’s increasingly diverse students where they are. That’s especially important right now because these students – adults, parents, workers, people of color and those from lower-income households – rarely earn a ‘two-year’ degree in two years or a ‘four-year’ degree in four years – underscoring dated nomenclature and structures designed decades ago for an entirely different student profile.”

Past Conferences

2020 Dual Mission Virtual Summit

2020 Dual Mission Virtual Summit Website

Keynote Presentation & Presidential Panel featuring Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO of Lumina Foundation. Following Merisotis’s presentation, hear from Presidents Hauser, Mortensen, Tuminez, Williams and Dr. Hanna on the role and importance of the dual-mission model in higher education.