Colorado Mountain College logo

Basecamp | Español Request Info Apply Now

Skip Navigation
  • slash-spacer-navABOUT
      • The CMC Life
        • Locations & Campuses
        • Snapshot
        • Videos & Tours
        • Residence Halls
        • Student Life
        • Athletics
        • Sustainable CMC
        • CMC Campus Store
        • CMC News
      • About CMC
        • About Us
        • Accreditation
        • Board of Trustees
        • President’s Office
        • CMC Senior Team
        • Strategic Plan; Vision, Mission, Values & Principles
        • CMC Foundation
        • Safety & Security
        • Work for CMC
    • Close
  • decorative image ACADEMICS
      • Academics
        • Academic Pathways
        • Programs / Degrees
        • Academics at CMC
        • Academic Calendar
        • Academic Catalog
        • Study Abroad
        • Business & Industry
        • College Preparation
      • Classes
        • Classes
        • Non-credit Classes
        • GED
        • ESL
        • High School-Concurrent
        • Registering Information
      • Support
        • Student Services
        • Libraries
        • Career Services
        • Textbooks / Learning Materials Program
        • Registrar’s Office
        • Transcripts
    • Close
  • decorative image ADMISSIONS
      • Admissions
        • Get Started - Admissions
        • Admissions Events
        • Parents & Families
        • Veterans & Military
        • New Student Orientation
        • Transfer to CMC
        • Your Right to Know
      • Cost + Financial Aid
        • Tuition & Costs
        • Special Tuition Rates
        • Net Price Calculator
        • How to Pay for College
        • Financial Aid
        • Scholarships
        • Payment Plan
    • Close
  • decorative image CAMPUSES
      • Residential
        • Leadville
        • Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs
        • Steamboat Springs
      • Commuter
        • Aspen
        • Breckenridge & Dillon
        • Carbondale
        • Glenwood Springs
        • Rifle
        • Salida
        • Vail Valley at Edwards
      • Locations
        • Central Services
        • Morgridge Commons
    • Close
  • decorative image ALUMNI
    • Alumni
    • Close

Home / Reaching Even Greater Heights

Colorado Mountain College logo
Skip Navigation
  • slash-spacer-navABOUT
      • The CMC Life
        • Locations & Campuses
        • Snapshot
        • Videos & Tours
        • Residence Halls
        • Student Life
        • Athletics
        • Sustainable CMC
        • CMC Campus Store
        • CMC News
      • About CMC
        • About Us
        • Accreditation
        • Board of Trustees
        • President’s Office
        • CMC Senior Team
        • Strategic Plan; Vision, Mission, Values & Principles
        • CMC Foundation
        • Safety & Security
        • Work for CMC
    • Close
  • decorative image ACADEMICS
      • Academics
        • Academic Pathways
        • Programs / Degrees
        • Academics at CMC
        • Academic Calendar
        • Academic Catalog
        • Study Abroad
        • Business & Industry
        • College Preparation
      • Classes
        • Classes
        • Non-credit Classes
        • GED
        • ESL
        • High School-Concurrent
        • Registering Information
      • Support
        • Student Services
        • Libraries
        • Career Services
        • Textbooks / Learning Materials Program
        • Registrar’s Office
        • Transcripts
    • Close
  • decorative image ADMISSIONS
      • Admissions
        • Get Started - Admissions
        • Admissions Events
        • Parents & Families
        • Veterans & Military
        • New Student Orientation
        • Transfer to CMC
        • Your Right to Know
      • Cost + Financial Aid
        • Tuition & Costs
        • Special Tuition Rates
        • Net Price Calculator
        • How to Pay for College
        • Financial Aid
        • Scholarships
        • Payment Plan
    • Close
  • decorative image CAMPUSES
      • Residential
        • Leadville
        • Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs
        • Steamboat Springs
      • Commuter
        • Aspen
        • Breckenridge & Dillon
        • Carbondale
        • Glenwood Springs
        • Rifle
        • Salida
        • Vail Valley at Edwards
      • Locations
        • Central Services
        • Morgridge Commons
    • Close
  • decorative image ALUMNI
    • Alumni
    • Close
Request Info | Apply | Basecamp | Español

Home / Reaching Even Greater Heights

Reaching Even Greater Heights

January 31, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

By Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser

Every January, we celebrate the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, remembering what he believed and taught us: respect, tolerance, and civility.

At Colorado Mountain College, we carry on that work as we strive to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all forms. While we have made notable progress, it is an evolving journey. As with any goal, it can be difficult to know where to start and what to do absent a baseline and plan.

CMC recently closed out its 2014-18 strategic plan, Reaching New Heights. Several noteworthy accomplishments include:

  • increasing concurrent enrollment (college for local high school students) by 47 percent,
  • increasing enrollment of Latino students by 38 percent,
  • significantly increasing the number of graduates,
  • streamlining operations, reducing annual expenditures per graduate by 16 percent,
  • holding growth in the college’s operating budget at or below inflation, and
  • retaining the distinction of being one of the country’s most affordable colleges.

As an open-access institution, CMC has always maintained an inclusive environment for all students, views, and backgrounds. CMC does not “select” students. We are here for everyone. Consequently, the institution can only be successful when it represents the great diversity of ideas and experiences found in western Colorado and across our state. Our classrooms are filled with students – regardless of ability or background – who seek to challenge themselves, advance their careers, or chart new horizons.

But it’s not enough to simply talk about being inclusive. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and do the right thing, as we did with our previous strategic plan.

CMC has never been an institution focused on aggressive enrollment growth or chasing tuition dollars. Our goal is simple: to support all communities in the college’s vast geographic service area and return on their investment in us.

For instance, in Lake County, CMC partnered with Get Outdoors Leadville!, to create a shared “gear library” for local residents. In Breckenridge, the college worked closely with the town to build affordable housing for workers and students. In Rifle, we worked with the school districts in western Garfield County to provide technical training to high schoolers when their school weeks were cut to four days.

In the Vail Valley, CMC has helped launch a first-of-its-kind technical training facility at Eagle Valley High School for local K-12 students and adults. In Aspen and Steamboat, as with all of our campuses, we welcome a constant stream of visitors attending art shows or lectures, playing bridge, enjoying a permaculture garden, or the like.

To better serve our entire region and those who have served our country, CMC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Western Slope Veterans Coalition. Hosting a recent Outdoor Industry Summit, we doubled down on efforts to train and fill the workforce pipeline for this $62 billion sector in our state. And, in its fourth year, the President’s Scholarship for local graduating high school seniors granting them “instant admission” and a $1,000 scholarship from CMC regardless of their life circumstances has resulted in shattered national averages for student retention and progress.

Through 2022, CMC will carry out its new strategic plan – Reaching Greater Heights – with energy and fidelity. Our entire team will continue a long tradition of directly serving our communities. Together we will seek opportunities to create and innovate programs for emerging industries, to adapt and expand programs – including additional bachelor’s degrees – to fuel our regional economy, and to use the resources provided by our residents and businesses to ensure that all have access to an institution committed to their success.

Grateful to and respectful of the shoulders on which we stand, I believe that CMC has never been stronger, more committed and relevant, or better positioned than it is today. I am so proud of our entire team for embracing Dr. King’s notion that “the time is always right to do what is right.” As the trustees, faculty, and staff at CMC embark upon a new strategic plan, we are assured in the integrity of our work to steward an institution that remains relevant and in service to all residents of western Colorado and an important partner to our region and state.

Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser is president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College. She can be reached at president@coloradomtn.edu or @CMCPresident.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

@Colorado Mountain College

Contact / Campus Locations / Maps

CMC Board of Trustees

CMC Foundation

Community & Partnerships

Departments / Contact

Directory of Faculty & Staff

Donate to CMC

Employment

Website

A-Z Index

Site Feedback

Site Login

Legal

Student Consumer Information

Report a Concern/Incident @ CMC Cares

Notice of Nondiscrimination

Privacy Policy

logo - Colorado Mountain College

© 2022 / Colorado Mountain College
Administrative Office: +1-970-945-8691
802 Grand Avenue, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601

logo - Colorado Mountain College

© 2022 / Colorado Mountain College
Administrative Office: +1-970-945-8691 / 802 Grand Avenue, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601