Building an Exceptional College
MCC is proud of its 50-year legacy of serving citizens of the East Valley. As we move forward, we are striving to become an exceptional community college with national standing, measured by student outcomes and community impact. Building an Exceptional College is founded on four specific goals and measurements: sustained reputation; success for all students across all programs and disciplines; recognition as a leader in innovation; and distinction for civic and community engagement.
Operating within a fast-changing higher education landscape, MCC will be called upon to improve institutional outcomes with ever greater efficiency. Guided by the One Maricopa governing philosophy, MCC will work in closer partnerships with sister institutions within the Maricopa County Community College District. While contributing to system-wide mission and goals, MCC can also draw upon system resources and strengths to better serve the community needs of Mesa.
The Road Ahead
The future direction for the college is determined through strategic planning: a dynamic, collaborative, and continuous process designed to ensure the long-term viability of our institution for our students and community and the effective and efficient use of public resources. Our Strategic Plan serves to translate our vision, leading the way to success in our local and global community, to reality.
MCC’s newly adopted Strategic Plan articulates three main priorities that form the foundation for Building an Exceptional College: Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM), Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL), and Signature Career Pathways (SCP). Paired with our Academic Master Plan, Facilities Plan, and Operational and Budget Plan, MCC is well prepared.
As we look toward the future, the needs of our service area have grown more complex. Mesa Public Schools is already a minority majority district, and the percentage of MCC’s Latino student population has been on the rise and is projected to increase steadily. The college is committed to becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). We are laying the groundwork to apply for federal funds that will enable us to expand our capacity to better serve Latino and other under-served populations.
Additionally, nearly two-thirds of incoming MCC students test into one or more developmental courses in reading, mathematics and English. As a result, more resources have to be allocated to help students underprepared for college coursework. In order to stay responsive throughout a student’s MCC experience, from beginning to end, MCC must maintain resources at all levels of learning proficiency so that success is attainable for all students.
Detailed information about several key planning areas are outlined below as well as some of the key data used to ensure that our planning efforts are based on realistic projections. It takes the right kind of data and thoughtful inquiry to reach our ultimate goal of Building an Exceptional College.
Strategic Planning
MCC’s Strategic Plan for 2015-18 is based on a new set of three main priorities: Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM), Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL), and Signature Career Pathways (SCP). SEM supports student success from recruitment to completion, improving the college’s dropout and completion rates and providing additional vital services to students during their educational journey at MCC; ETL crafts environments and experiences that foster the development of knowledge and abilities; and SCP provides evolving, in-demand programs designed for student success.
MCC’s Strategic Plan coincides with the Maricopa County Community College District's vision and mission, and extends MCCCD’s strategic planning goals for 2013-16: Access to Learning; Pathways to Success; Effective Learning and Teaching; and Organizational Integrity.
Maricopa Priorities
Mesa Community College is part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), one of the largest community college systems in the country. As the needs of Maricopa County become more diverse, as resources become scarcer, MCC will collaborate much more closely with other colleges within the system in program offerings, personnel sharing, and system-level planning. The shift from competition to collaboration is a new reality and it is necessary to increase system effectiveness and efficiency. MCC desires to serve the unique needs of the Mesa and Tempe communities while becoming a leader and collaborator within the community of Maricopa colleges.
MCCCD began a process of self-assessment and prioritization of all programs and services in 2013. This process, known as Maricopa Priorities, will support collectively realigning resources to help MCC thrive as an institution.
MCC must have the foresight to invest strategically in the college’s future while having the courage to disengage from activities and programs that limit our potential or distract from our core mission.
Academic Master Plan
The Academic Master Plan is a guide to planned management of educational programs and services that address the ever-changing needs of our community. MCC is the largest community college in Arizona, and the Maricopa County Community College District is one of the largest in the nation. MCC will be expected to produce more high quality degree and certificate completers at low per-student cost to a more diverse population. Industry demands, changing demographics, and competition are the forces that are driving current changes, and they will lead us to adopt new content for teaching and learning and methods of delivery. As we continue to see a large number of students in need of developmental education, we will seek to improve our offerings in this increasingly critical area.
Facilities Planning
By the end of 2015, MCC will have all construction and remodeling complete from the 2004 bond. More than $115 million worth of improvements, remodeling and new construction now graces the Southern & Dobson and Red Mountain campuses, as well as the Downtown Center.
Major remodeling projects at the Southern & Dobson campus include the Performing Arts Center, which features the expansion and adaptive reuse of a former Harkins’ movie theatre, as well as the expansion and remodel of the Health & Wellness building. The Kirk Student Center was remodeled, an outdoor courtyard was enclosed to create a new Student Lounge, and adjacent buildings were remodeled to create a new Thunderbird Student Success Center. Other remodeling included the Arts & Communications and Language Arts buildings and the MCC Theatre. At MCC’s Downtown Center the Virtual Incident Command Center was created. Major technology and infrastructure upgrades were completed at all MCC locations.
New construction includes the new Enrollment Center at Southern & Dobson, a 17,000-square-foot one-stop registration facility created to house all student enrollment services in a single building. A new Art Gallery at Southern & Dobson will showcase student and faculty work and function as a learning lab. Other new construction includes a new Physical Science Building with a Planetarium and, at Red Mountain, the new Saguaro Building.
MCC has three LEED certified buildings (Physical Science and Health & Wellness at Southern & Dobson, and the Saguaro building at Red Mountain), and all of our remodels and new construction are built to LEED standards. (LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods.)
Student Enrollment Center
The new 17,000-square-foot Student Enrollment Center opened in August 2015. The building was designed to provide students with easy access to Admissions, Records, Advisement, Registration, Financial Aid, and Cashier’s Services under one roof.
Health-Wellness Building
Created by refurbishing an existing building, the Health-Wellness Building, reopened in 2010, houses the disciplines of nursing and exercise science. MCC Interior Design students worked to qualify the building for Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification.
Performing Arts Center
This state-of-the-art, 462-seat, MCC Performing Arts Center (PAC) opened in 2014, and includes new construction along with a remodel of a Harkins movie theatre. The PAC includes a band room, choral room, and production support space. Musical plays, dance recitals, and band and choral performances are held in this new facility.
Physical Science Building
The Physical Science Building opened in 2007 and features a 2,100-square-foot planetarium. It was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building at MCC and the first major LEED-certified building in the Maricopa County Community College District. This photo depicts the installation of a beam that was signed by employees.
Red Mountain Campus Saguaro Building
The Saguaro Building opened in 2009, supporting the unique combination of life science and performing arts. Phi Theta Kappa students led the effort to qualify the building for Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification.
Student Success Center & Lounge
The Student Success Center and Lounge opened in 2015 concurrent with the new Enrollment Center and includes a remodel of existing adjacent structures. This area houses student resources including Multicultural Services, Career Services, Counseling, Disability Resources along with updated Student Government offices, Student Life & Leadership and the cafeteria.
MCC Theatre Remodel
Originally the Theatre Outback, built in 1978, this two-year remodel culminated in 2014 and included the name change to MCC Theatre.
Virtual Incident Command Center
The Virtual Incident Command Center (VICC) opened at MCC’s Downtown Center in 2011. The Center provides real-life simulations to train rescuers for emergencies. Construction included cutting out a portion of the wall on the fourth floor of MCC’s Downtown Center to provide access for a crane to lift an F 150 cab and Fire Engine cab into the VICC.
Student Learning Outcomes
The techniques and tools MCC uses to assess learning outcomes for students has evolved and now includes the 4C’s for student learning outcomes: Communication, Civic Engagement, Critical Thinking, and Cultural and Global Engagement.
Dramatic improvements in student learning outcomes will be realized through implementation and assessment of the 4C's. The goal is to intentionally design our assessment and implementation processes in new ways that prompt us to re-examine, refine, and create ways to understand learning.
Student Performance
MCC tracks student performance in a number of ways, including Graduation/Transfer, Degrees & Certificates awarded, Transfers to an Arizona Public University, and by participating in the National Community College Benchmark Project.
MCC’s graduation rates have improved dramatically. Between 2012-13 and 2013-14 (the most recent data available), MCC awarded 7% more degrees and 11% more certificates. Over a five-year period the trends are impressive: up 29% for degrees, a whopping 79% for certificates.
The college began a more concerted effort in 2008 to increase the number of students completing Associate degree and training certificates, even if university transfer was in the student’s plans. The results speak for themselves: degrees awarded rose from 1,735 in 2008 to 2,243 in 2013, while awarded certificates spiked from 1,339 in 2008 to 2,392 in 2013.
In addition, compared to 2009-10, MCC graduated 41 percent more students and conferred 46 percent more awards in 2012-13. In Fall 2010, as a response to President Obama’s call to increase college completion by 50 percent in 2020, MCC developed three, five and 10-year goals to increase the number of awards the college confers. The Maricopa County Community College District’s goal is to increase the number of unique graduates by 50 percent by 2020.
MCC graduates and transfer students do exceptionally well at Arizona’s public universities. Students who transferred to a university with an award from MCC completed an average of 21 more credits at the university than students who did not complete a program at MCC.
Statistical Snapshots
In this section you will find charts, graphs and narrative that detail student demographic and budget trends from 2008-09 to 2014-15. There are separate data tables on Budget Expenditures and Revenues, as well as financial aid and scholarships awarded. Enrollment data sets include a breakdown of full-time and part-time students, number of graduates, total student enrollment numbers and the ethnicity of our student body.
Astute analyses of factual data is an ongoing process that allows MCC to enhance academic programs and allocate resources that support student success and the economic growth of our community.
