Expanding for Impact

April 5, 2021 By cmctestgenesis

Expanding for Impact

March 31, 2021

By Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser

Recently, I received my first COVID-19 vaccination.  As the nurse who administered my shot – a Colorado Mountain College nursing program graduate – placed a small bandage on the injection site, I was once again energized by the contributions CMC makes to our state. This “shot in the arm” was both cause for optimism and a symbolic reminder that many challenges still lie ahead.

While it has been an exhausting year, it has also been inspiring and transformational. Ever since the pandemic rocked our world in March 2020, our team never missed an opportunity to make the dream of college a reality for students enrolled at CMC’s 11 campuses and online.

We worked nearly nonstop to gather facts, plan, innovate, communicate and implement strategies – all while maintaining an operation and facilities that support over 15,000 learners and nearly 2,000 employees without interruption.

Mere days after the Governor’s stay-at-home-order, we launched CMC Responds, a major initiative to provide local businesses with no-cost consulting and free summer tuition for thousands of students whose lives were disrupted by an economic nose-dive. Our employees and students agreed to practice the Five Commitments to Containment, which resulted in very few COVID-related incidents on our campuses.

This spring, CMC has offered more than 1,000 courses online or in a flex format, while safely delivering select classes in-person.

Facing a devastating recession, we were still able to secure several multi-million dollar grants, reinvesting them locally to make CMC even more accessible to learners in rural Western Slope communities.

I could not be prouder of our faculty and staff for their resilience and going above and beyond to maintain continuity of CMC services in new and creative ways.

And, their efforts paid off.  We are on track to graduate the largest class of students in CMC’s history this May.

So, where do we go from here?

It will take more hard work, thinking differently about how we relate to each other and avoiding a “return to normal” that reinforces cultural divisions in our society. It means exploiting what this massive disruption taught us and using that information to more effectively reach all students.

And, by “all students,” I mean every individual who could benefit from CMC irrespective of income, age, gender, background or political beliefs and especially those marginalized by an unforgiving and rapidly-changing economy.

Colleges across the country articulate commitments to diversity and inclusivity.  Noteworthy progress has certainly been made at CMC.  The 15-point achievement gap between Hispanic and majority students when I arrived in 2013 is gone. The college’s senior leadership team is nearly equally gender balanced. I’m approaching eight years of service as the institution’s second female president.

While these are milestones to celebrate, the pandemic intensified barriers to college in our high-cost mountain towns. The lack of affordable housing, food insecurity and inadequate mental health services add great pressures to existing and aspiring CMC students.

Additionally, segments of the public remain dubious about the value of college. The pandemic’s heavy economic toll only reinforces their doubts. While higher education has become more open and accessible to a broader range of individuals, a renewed and charged perception that it is “elitist” has some students and families choosing to bypass its benefits. Better understanding and addressing this unfortunate narrative will be critical, especially for an open access institution that prides itself on welcoming everyone.

So, considering the challenges that will remain post-pandemic, we must recommit ourselves to finding and serving those still excluded from higher education.

CMC’s vision statement begins with these words: “We aspire to be the most inclusive, innovative and student-centered college in the nation…”

While this important phrase guides our institution daily, I also wonder if being “inclusive” underscores the disconnection some individuals feel? Inclusive implies inviting others in to an existing culture, environment, family structure or community. It doesn’t suggest that the culture or community itself must change.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate for higher education to expand itself to reach those not currently enrolled, aware or interested by examining long-standing norms and practices to find missing voices and divergent ways of thinking, challenging existing mind-sets and questioning operating practices that may exclude certain groups or individuals.

For CMC, “expansion” means looking differently at the hurdles that exist for our students (and potential students) to live, learn and thrive.

As we face the months ahead, I remain hopeful. This fall, all of our campuses will welcome students – both in person and online – with new tools, perspectives and attitudes. Together, our team will evaluate who is missing from the college, barriers that prevent their enrollment and strategies to ensure that all are successful and belong.

Filed Under: CMC President, News Tagged With: Home Page

Sopris Theatre Company presents ‘The Nina Variations’

April 5, 2021 By cmctestgenesis

Sopris Theatre Company presents ‘The Nina Variations’

See the The Nina Variations Program Flipbook
Nina Variations Seagull Synopsis
Nina Variations Presentation

In its third and final production of the season, Sopris Theatre Company at Colorado Mountain College will perform “The Nina Variations,” a funny yet heartbreaking homage to Anton Chekhov’s play, “The Seagull.” The theater company will stream the play online at the college’s Spring Valley campus in Glenwood Springs and present nine virtual performances from April 9 through April 25.

Written by contemporary playwright Steven Dietz, “The Nina Variations” traps Chekhov’s star-crossed lovers – Nina and Treplev – in a room and doesn’t let them out.

While the play is written for two actors, the playwright encourages companies to use multiple pairs of Ninas and Treplevs, so four sets of actors will perform the two roles. Directed by Brad Moore, the play features Chris Walsh and Jaime Walsh; Brendan T. Cochran and Christina Cappelli; Ciara Morrison and James Steindler; and Joshua Adamson and Bostyn Elswick.

As has been the case with previous performances this season, “Nina Variations” won’t be limited to the Roaring Fork Valley area but will include viewers throughout the CMC district, and farther yet, who can now “go” to the theater virtually and be COVID safe. “The Nina Variations” will stream:

April 9, 7 p.m.
April 10, 7 p.m.
April 11, 2 p.m.
April 16,  7 p.m.
April 17,  7 p.m.
April 18,  2 p.m.
April 23, 7 p.m.
April 24, 7 p.m.
April 25, 2 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at ShowTix4U.

Admission is $18 for adults and $13 for seniors and students, as well as CMC employees and graduates. Season ticket holders and CMC Spring Valley students must contact the Sopris Theatre Company’s box office at svticketsales@coloradomtn.edu or call 970-947-8177 to arrange tickets for the play.

The 2020-21 season of Sopris Theatre Company is presented by US Bank.

For more information, contact Brad Moore at 970-947-8187, bmoore@coloradomtn.edu or visit coloradomtn.edu/theatre.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Home Page

The Promise of Dual-Mission Colleges

February 4, 2021 By cmctestgenesis

The Promise of Dual-Mission Colleges

The institutions, which mix certificate, two-year and four-year programs, offer a novel approach in a postsecondary ecosystem that needs to adapt, write Jamie Merisotis and Carrie Besnette Hauser.

By Jamie Merisotis and Carrie Besnette Hauser

Originally published on Inside Higher Ed, February 4, 2021

Today’s postsecondary education system is out of sync with what our nation needs — as surveys of students, employers and others show. One reason is that it’s ossified by structures put in place a half century ago, which led many colleges and universities, even new ones, to pursue academic and business models that aligned with strictly designed categories, whether they served students or not.

In recent years a group of colleges started offering a mix of programs challenging the notion that college credentials must come in neat two-year or four-year packages.

From our respective perches, we believe that these “dual-mission” institutions offer another way forward for higher education in the post-pandemic period.

We got here in part because a group of higher ed leaders, led by former University of California president Clark Kerr, worked to create some order out of a rapidly growing and changing system. The Carnegie classification system was designed in the early 1970s, a time when higher education was booming following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, rapid expansion of community colleges and the adoption of the Higher Education Act, which launched many of the federal financial aid programs that still benefit millions of college students today.

In the decade that followed, the United States saw the launch and expansion of hundreds of colleges and universities that, to a very large degree, looked identical. Most had two 15-week semesters, offered “traditional” academic degrees and adhered to the expected standards assigned to “two-year” or “four-year” institutions. Yet college prestige was universally accepted as if it were chiseled into stone tablets.

With this backdrop, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which designed the original classification system, offered a taxonomy to differentiate colleges based not on their productivity, learning outcomes or innovation, but on their degree types, research intensity, resources and student populations. For 50 years this system has organized colleges in seemingly well-defined categories, effectively creating the expectation that colleges must fit such categories.

The problem is that today, those categories — and the students they were meant to serve — have gone the way of shag carpeting and the BlackBerry.

As with everything else in 2020, higher education was turned on its head. After the pandemic hit, students and faculty went home. Removed from the historical architecture and scholastic traditions that reinforced the rank-ordered classification system, students began to question whether their colleges were worth the price. Some even sued their colleges for charging full tuition for an online experience.

Once colleges and universities shifted to a universal instructional mode — one that treats musty teaching traditions as a liability — some students began to question their ready acceptance of higher ed hierarchy. This has added complexity and urgency to the need for new models.

And as students more openly consider a wider array of pathways, such as technical certificates and associate degrees that lead to high-demand jobs requiring specialized skills, increasingly, they ask, “What exactly are we getting for our money?”

All the while, employers complained about not finding the talent they need. Nearly three-quarters of employers told a 2019 Cengage survey that they were having trouble hiring qualified candidates.

In response, a group of colleges decided that, rather than adhere to the confines of the Carnegie classifications, they would try to serve as many students as possible without considering predetermined classifications. These class-busting, dual-mission institutions broke out of the two-year/four-year mold by factoring in prior learning, online course offerings and pathways that might range from six months to four years (or more) depending on students’ circumstances or a rapidly changing economy.

Today, an estimated 400 dual-mission colleges — including many in Utah endorsed by state legislation, the Florida system of state colleges, a handful in Georgia, Colorado Mountain College and others — offer technical certificates, applied programs and robust liberal arts degrees at all levels.

The timing is providential. As machines get smarter and smarter, the work of the future will be rooted in things that differentiate humans from machines: our intelligence, our drive and our values. To succeed in the future, workers will have to develop both their human traits — including empathy, ethics and compassion — and human capabilities such as creativity, problem solving, analysis and communication.

Teaching those skills and capabilities — and combining them with the deep technical expertise gleaned from “traditional” higher education — is what distinguishes dual-mission institutions.

At a recent national summit on dual-mission institutions, we were joined on a panel by a group of presidents who said that a key strength in the dual-mission approach was 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.

Summit participants agreed that, due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, U.S. higher education is at a pivotal moment — and that the dual-mission approach has the nimbleness to respond.

One president shared a recent conversation with a faculty member, who said she was able to adjust to changes forced by the pandemic “because I’m used to teaching students from a variety of backgrounds who are juggling school with their lives.”

Several student speakers shared that dual-mission institutions are effective because they offer a welcoming environment and flexible experience. Those enrolling in entry-level or shorter programs can transition seamlessly into bachelor’s degree programs at the same institution, having seen their peers be supported and successful. Conversely, students pursuing bachelor’s degrees can easily pick up a specialized certificate or “reverse transfer” to earn an associate degree.

The moral of this story is that adaptation and innovation needn’t be confined to classifications determined 50 years ago. The pandemic has challenged nearly everything we once assumed true in our business, government and education systems.

Many colleges are struggling; some have failed. But others are adapting to students’ shifting needs and aspirations.

Whether we call them multimission, dual mission or just boldly nonconforming, these blended institutions may be the canary in the Carnegie system’s coal mine. They are the approach best able to reach the millions of Americans who will need more — and different — education or the work of the future.

Jamie Merisotis is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation and author of the recently released book “Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines.”

Carrie Besnette Hauser  is president of Colorado Mountain College.

Read more by Jamie Merisotis and Carrie Besnette Hauser

Filed Under: CMC President, News Tagged With: Home Page

Spring Valley buildings win engineering award

December 18, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

Haselden Construction received an Engineering News-Record regional award for the J. Robert Young Alpine Ascent Center, one of two campus structures the company recently completed at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley.

Spring Valley buildings win engineering award

Two recently constructed buildings at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley have won a coveted Engineering News-Record regional award. ENR Mountain States has named the J. Robert Young Alpine Ascent Center and the Outdoor Leadership Center & Field House the Best Project for Higher Education/Research in 2020.

The project, nominated by Haselden Construction, was selected from 138 entries across seven states. Winners in 19 different categories, including Higher Education/Research, were chosen as Best Projects.

Haselden Construction constructed both Spring Valley buildings, with direction from the college to ensure that both would meet silver LEED standards, in alignment with the college’s sustainability action plan. Both energy-efficient buildings are designed to accommodate photovoltaic panels and to complement the natural environment.

“When we thought about sustainability, we also thought about the way these buildings would sit on the landscape,” said Heather Exby, vice president and campus dean at Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs. “The architects mimicked the shed roofs and aluminum siding of ranching structures in our region.”

The J. Robert Young Alpine Ascent Center hosts student services, a bookstore and a coffee shop, plus three classrooms that can be combined to accommodate up to 100 people. Most important to Exby, the wood-beamed space provides a home base for residential and commuter students to gather between classes and activities.

The 32,673-square-foot Outdoor Leadership Center & Field House contains two full-size basketball courts, climbing and bouldering walls, a dance and yoga studio, a weight room, and an indoor track, treadmills and a meeting room positioned to take full advantage of the Mount Sopris view. Built into a hillside, the building looks and feels fully connected to the surrounding topography, overseeing the soccer fields below. Inside, the double-sized gymnasium can accommodate up to nearly 1,000 people when full occupancy is permitted, providing the college with new opportunities to host student and community events. The campus will offer punch passes and memberships for locals to use the facility for exercise and to climb on the 37-foot indoor climbing wall, pending changes in pandemic restrictions.

The Outdoor Leadership Center & Field House at CMC Spring Valley was included in the engineering award Haselden Construction recently won. Photo Ed Kosmicki

“We feel this project upholds the promise we made to landowners to be thoughtful stewards,” said Exby, referring to the neighboring ranch owners who donated 800 acres to start the campus in the 1960s. “Haselden was a wonderful partner,” she said, noting that the award-winning construction project came in on time and under budget.

“It’s an honor to be recognized for our work at Colorado Mountain College,” said Byron Haselden, president and CEO of Haselden Construction. “The Ascent Center and Outdoor Leadership Center projects represented our exceptional level of quality in the areas of innovation, craftsmanship and safety. We’re grateful for our longstanding relationship with CMC and the opportunity for these facilities, and the entire campus, to be acknowledged by ENR.”

For Exby, the recognition was great news for the college and the community. “Spring Valley is a hidden gem,” she said. “We’re excited for the community to come rediscover all it has to offer.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Home Page

Recreational and Professional Avalanche Training Courses in Leadville

December 16, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

Avalanche Training Today: The Professional/ Recreational Split

Anyone interested in exploring the backcountry should seek out formal avalanche training. Whether you are skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, or simply hiking around some of your favorite trails it is important to have an understanding about avalanche safety, awareness, and emergency strategies.

When it comes to avalanche training, the number of options and course types can be overwhelming. This guide will explain the different paths of recreational and professional avalanche training courses to help you safely recreate in the backcountry this winter.

REC or PRO?

The REC track—short for recreation—is the starting point for recreationalist and professionals alike. Working professionals like ski patrollers or outdoor educators may be interested in continuing their education with PRO (professional) courses after completing REC courses.

graphic explaining recreational and professional avalanche training courses at cmc leadville

Level 1 and Avalanche Rescue

Level 1 Avalanche Training

The Level 1 course, also known as Avy 1, is the starting point for recreationalists and aspiring professionals. The Avy 1 and Avalanche Rescue courses are the minimum training recommendation for anyone traveling in the backcountry. A Level 1 course is generally a 3-day course with a field component, where students begin to learn about avalanches and snowpack. You’ll study the basics about types of avalanches, and learn to identify hazardous terrain and avalanche conditions.

Most importantly, the Avy 1 course teaches students how to make educated decisions and have meaningful discussions about tour plans, risks, and mitigation. This course offers many opportunities to develop decision making skills in the backcountry and the field component allows students to make real world applications to class topics.

avalanche science student practicing a beacon search in an avalanche rescue class while two instructors oversee Avalanche Rescue

The Avalanche Rescue course focuses on companion rescue and what to do if someone in your group gets caught in an avalanche.This is a 1- day course with a focus on how to properly use avalanche rescue equipment effectively and make educated decisions in the case of emergency.

There is the opportunity for a lot of hands on practice with companion rescue, avalanche beacon use, and other professional tips. The companion rescue course is a great class to retake every couple years to hone your skills and learn about changes within the industry.

Both Avy 1 and Avalanche Rescue courses have no prerequisites. Students are able to take one or the other in any order, but be aware that any higher level avalanche courses requires both the Level 1 and Avalanche Rescue.

Level 2 Avalanche Training

The Level 2 Avalanche course, also known as Avy 2, allows backcountry users to continue to build off of topics introduced during the level I and rescue courses. This is a great course for the more experienced recreationalist looking to get more tools for their backcountry tool kit.

This course expands on topics about decision making, risk and terrain management, and group travel. Avy 2 courses tend to be particularly fun because most of the participants are excited to dive further into topics and really work on developing their skills.

PRO 1

The professional level 1 course is now the baseline for avalanche professionals. The primary focus of the PRO 1 course is on safe travel, snow and weather observations, and time spent in snow pits. PRO 1 runs for 5 days with a 2 days of assessments. The structure of this course shifts away from the recreational perspective and focuses on professional level risk management, observations, and rescue skills. This is a course designed for aspiring forecasters, ski patrollers, and mountain guides.

PRO 2

The American Avalanche Association describes Professional Avalanche Training 2 (PRO 2) as designed for developing avalanche professionals with several seasons of applied professional experience as well as seasoned professionals who are looking to develop skills applicable to leadership roles within their operation.

The PRO 2 is for experienced workers who desire to continue to develop their forecasting, risk management, and leadership skills. Workers will analyze information from various sources and make operational decisions on multiple spatial and temporal scales.

This course contains a much heavier workload than previous courses and is targeted to those already well into their career as forecasters and snow safety professionals.

Free Avalanche Education Resources

There are many free resources for the aspiring avalanche safety student. These are not substitutes for professional training but it is a great place to start.

The Know Before You Go program is a resource offered by the Utah Avalanche Center and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center/ Friends of CAIC. This is a great introduction to avalanche safety and an alternative to attending a live session.

Avalanche.org provides avalanche forecasts from all across the country, but it has free tutorials and a useful course finding tab.

Many nonprofits and organizations, like Friends of the CAIC, Colorado Mountain School, REI and Ski-Doo, also offer free avalanche awareness seminars.

Most Importantly, remember to check local avalanche forecasts for the area you plan to recreate in. Most of these forecast centers also have climate specific educational resources.

  • Colorado Avalanche Information Center
  • Utah Avalanche Center
  • Avalanche.org
  • Crested Butte Avalanche Center

Course Providers

When considering avalanche training courses you will often see American Avalanche Association (A3) and AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education). The American Avalanche Association is responsible for setting curriculum guidelines and AIARE uses those guidelines to develop courses and instructors. People often believe that AIARE is the only course provider but there are other providers that follow the A3 guidelines as well. Colorado Mountain College is an AIARE and A3 certified professional course provider!

 

An avalanche in berthoud pass with the avalanche science program logo

Recreational and Professional Avalanche Training at Colorado Mountain College

Recreational Training

Colorado Mountain College offers both the recreational and professional tracks for avalanche training. Recreational backcountry users can begin their avalanche education with Level 1 Avalanche Training (OUT-168), Avalanche Rescue (OUT-268), and progress to Level 2 Avalanche Training (OUT-269).

Avalanche Science: Professional Avalanche Courses at Colorado Mountain College

Colorado Mountain College Leadville also offers professional level avalanche training and continued education for current or aspiring avalanche industry professionals. The Avalanche Science program is a two-year certification designed by industry experts from the Colorado Avalanche information Center, Colorado Mountain College, and U.S. Forest Service. Program graduates earn a Snow, Weather & Avalanche Field Technician certificate as well as an American Avalanche Association PRO certification.

Find a complete list of avalanche courses offered at CMC on the course catalog.

Filed Under: News, Programs Tagged With: Avalanche Science, Home Page

A Crucible Moment

December 1, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

A Crucible Moment

By Carrie Besnette Hauser

December 1, 2020

CMC President and CEO Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser.

Certain dates resonate with us, historically, culturally, and personally. These dates often remind us that history is the greatest teacher of leadership, but that the future is limited only by our imagination, ingenuity, and resolve.

On this day, December 1, in 1862, Abraham Lincoln delivered a message to a despondent Congress to recommit itself to solving the most pressing challenges facing a deeply divided nation.

In his address, Lincoln did not attempt to sidestep the difficulty of the task at hand or its significance. He said to Congress, “The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”

Though he was eager to end the conflict quickly, it would be another three long years until Lincoln and the U.S. Congress would reunite and rebuild the nation. Lucky for all of us still benefitting from their efforts, they embraced the challenge and got to work.

On this December 1, our nation is not engaged in a civil war, but 2020 has important parallels to the situation more than a century and a half ago. As the recent election shows, our nation is divided on a number of economic and social issues. Our economy is slumped, certain industries are dying, and the benefits of our progress are concentrated in some states and among the powerful elite. Perhaps most insidious (and aided by social media), our citizenry has formed deeply entrenched identity groups that divide us from each other based on race, education, religion, socioeconomic status, and other factors, as was the case in 1862 (and 1962 and 2002).

And yet, in spite of these demanding conditions, I remain hopeful for the future of our country and of our state and its mountain communities.

December 1 is always an important personal day for me. Seven years ago, I joined the remarkable team at Colorado Mountain College. In most years, one’s work anniversary is cause for reflection, gratitude, and contemplation. However, this is not a year to celebrate or ruminate on a particular milestone. Instead, my entire attention is focused on the future and the ways CMC can continue to elevate educational and economic opportunities for residents across western Colorado, in spite of the challenges we face.

It is a crucible moment.

A crucible is a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new. What an accurate depiction of the conditions that face us and reason for CMC to focus on certain priorities in the year ahead.

First, our nation is divided socially, politically, and culturally. We are naturally drawn to information that reinforces what we already believe. However, understanding new and different ideas, perspectives, and experiences humanizes and contextualizes what we see, read, and hear. The result is a more open-minded, more harmonious, more prosperous society. Colleges and universities provide opportunities for this kind of engagement, both in the classroom and out. Therefore, Colorado Mountain College will strive to provide access to our campuses and programs in ways we’ve never attempted before, welcoming all students to CMC, including those who feel isolated and left behind by 2020. We will explore, acknowledge, and understand our blind spots and demonstrate that a college degree is emblematic of the best of the American spirit – grit, hard work, self-confidence, and sacrifice – and not a symbol of “elitism” or exclusion.

Second, the economic impact of a punishing pandemic has not affected our communities equally. Many of our highly educated citizens were able to shift work to their living rooms without interruption. Other residents, especially those in lower-wage jobs or professions, had their places of employment – and livelihoods – shuttered. Some have been considered “essential workers” despite the fact that their children were at home and not in school. This tale of two economies has deepened economic inequalities and increased “us versus them” perceptions. So, in 2021, CMC will double down on increasing financial assistance to nontraditional students and consider strategic investments and partnerships in housing – an increasingly acute access barrier for our students, most of whom contribute to our local economies by working full-time and are directly affected by the rapidly changing economy.

We know that many Americans are distressed and feel disenfranchised by the reality that one’s race or socioeconomic status can limit their potential outcomes. And yet our communities are ever-changing. The majority of students in many of our local K-12 schools are Latino. Historically, these students less often matriculate to college, resulting in depressed future economic outcomes for the entire region.

We are extremely proud that CMC is one of the few colleges anywhere that has closed achievement gaps among enrolled students. At CMC, Latino and white students perform equally well in terms of retention and graduation. Building on this trend and recognizing the upheaval across the K-12 sector caused by the pandemic, CMC will work closely with area high schools to restore concurrent enrollment programs battered by the pandemic and innovate to provide financial support to students often overlooked by traditional financial aid programs, including ESL and GED students. We are developing new tools for counselors and advisors to better identify and reach students who may be struggling, to connect these students to resources that can help them succeed. And internally, our employees will continue deep discussions centered on equity, inclusion and implicit bias. We can all learn, grow, understand, and improve the ways we relate to and accept one another.

Finally, as with all economic downturns, recoveries often welcome new industries and businesses and mourn the loss of those not well positioned for new realities. Though it is too soon to predict the 2021 economic outlook, it’s clear that certain skills will be in high demand. Next year, CMC will launch a variety of new academic programs designed to meet the needs of our mountain-resort region, thus allowing residents of our communities to secure a stable place in a recovering economy. Benefitting from a recently received $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, CMC will invest in high-demand and high-cost programs including expanded nursing and allied health careers and certified addiction counseling. New bachelor’s programs in early childhood education, human services, and ecosystems management will respond to the expressed needs of local employers.

Since arriving in 2013, I have had the honor and privilege to have a front-row seat to watch CMC become truly exemplary thanks to a talented team of faculty and staff at campuses and locations spread across 12,000 square miles. Together, and with the generous help of donors, volunteer advisors, and other community supporters; successful legislation and local ballot initiatives; and a committed board of trustees, we have dramatically increased graduation rates, expanded concurrent enrollment offerings and participation, broadened student diversity, and added academic programs, including a variety of new bachelor’s degrees.

At the same time, we intentionally slowed the growth of expenses to ensure that taxpayer and tuition funds are always used in prudent and effective ways. While other institutions across our state and country are facing very real financial emergencies, CMC’s financial rating remains very strong, putting the college in a unique position to renew and broaden its impact, investment, and relevance in a post-pandemic world.

At the start of my eighth year at CMC, I am more motivated than ever to forge ahead and position the college for success in the decades to come, standing on the shoulders of many great predecessors and visionaries.

In this final month of an unprecedented year, it seems important to reflect on Lincoln’s wisdom, that the road ahead will be piled high with obstacles and difficulty, and that we all must rise to meet the challenge. That to be successful we must come together and think and act anew. And that we must discard our differences and embrace our commonalities, and, in doing so, chart the course for a shared future.

It is a sincere privilege to be part of CMC and to work on behalf of and alongside the employees, students, community members, and other friends who make this college so special.

As with any crucible, the trials ahead will test and reshape Colorado Mountain College into something stronger, more resilient, and more relevant on the other side. What a rare and remarkable opportunity.

Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser is President & CEO of Colorado Mountain College. She can be reached at President@Coloradomtn.edu or @CMCPresident.

Filed Under: CMC President, News Tagged With: Home Page

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