Programs & Partnerships

Mesa Community College was selected as one of 38 two-year colleges, out of 1,200 nationwide, to participate in the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI). CCURI is a National Science Foundation funded project to expand opportunities for high-impact learning experiences – such as research – for first and second year college students

MCC faculty Niccole Cerveny is leading the way to creating a national model for community colleges. She received a grant to train other colleges. As she said in an April 2015 article in In the Trenches, a publication of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers: “Surprisingly, many of these skills are universal to all science disciplines...students who are exposed to hands-on research opportunities are more likely to dive into the contents, as content is perceived to have more value and context. Additionally, students who are involved in undergraduate research are more likely to complete their undergraduate educations.”

MCC is dedicated to offering and supporting research experiences and opportunities to its students and faculty. Faculty at MCC are encouraged and supported by professional growth and grant opportunities to engage in scholarship and original research. Faculty engages students in short-term research designed as in-class, semester projects, ongoing and long-term research projects, and interdisciplinary research projects.

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Students use the Rock Art Stability Index to link knowledge of rock types and their weathering to the preservation of rock art.

A grant from the National Science Foundation (2012), “Organic Chemistry and Native Plants of the Sonoran Desert: A New Model for the Undergraduate Laboratory,” made it possible for a group of six Mesa Community College (MCC) students to investigate beneficial new uses of essential oils derived from naturally occurring Sonoran Desert plants.

Mesa Community College received a $2.5 million federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant in 2014 to create the Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AzAMI). AzAMI provides trade-impacted workers with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to provide long-term support to aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries in the region.  

“By specifically targeting advanced manufacturing, an industry vital to Maricopa County, the AzAMI programs are directly correlated to the goals and strategies outlined in the Governor’s Integrated Workforce Development Plan for 2012-16,” said Rebecca Gau, Director of Education Innovation for the Office of the Governor.

The TAACCCT grant was used to build the college’s capacity to meet the training and educational needs of the expanding manufacturing sector in the East Valley. AzAMI’s core programs are electronics, drafting, automation and machining, and welding.

In September 2014 the MCC Urban Horticulture and Agribusiness program received a $81,600 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Education grant to establish a Center for Urban Agriculture (CUA); to serve as a hub for the development and dissemination of educational programs focused on sustainable agriculture and community enhancement.  

In addition to an aquaponics-based STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) curriculum for students in the Roosevelt School District, the grant supported the development of an Aquaponics course and a Sustainable Agriculture degree program at MCC.

The CUA will serve as a model which can be replicated at sites across the state. Participants in the program will learn to utilize open spaces, abandoned lots, and suitable brownfield sites in the Greater Phoenix area to produce and eat healthy foods, reduce air and water pollution, reduce the urban heat island effect, establish and run profitable businesses, and beautify their neighborhoods.

“This environmental education effort will teach employable skills to students and enable them to become environmental stewards,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The hands-on experience that Mesa Community College students will receive is unparalleled and will serve as a model for similar institutions nationwide.”

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This future farmer attended the the first “Urban Farming: Healthy Food and Healthy Living” workshop in January 2015.

The “What is S.T.E.M. Education?” workshop (May 2015) was of interest to young and old.

Many community members were interested in learning about aquaponics at the April 2015 Urban Farming workshop.

Plants thrive using aquaponic technology.

Staff at the Mesa Community Outreach Center have provided more than 8,500 residents with enrollment, financial aid, college planning and preparation services as well as resources and referrals for those needing additional support.  

In the last six years alone more than 800 residents completed English courses for Spanish speakers at the Mesa Community Outreach Center. Demand has increased resulting in additional sections of the course being added in the Fall of 2014.

The Center stemmed from the Mesa Counts on College partnership between the City of Mesa, Mesa Community College (MCC) and Mesa Public Schools (MPS) which grew from a Gates Foundation grant, which led to the establishment of the Mesa Community Outreach Center in 2010. The effort was created to provide greater college access opportunities to 16 to 26-year-old at risk, underserved, low income, first generation adult learners.

The first of its kind within the Maricopa County Community College District, the Center continues to provide programs and services even though the Gates grant has ended.

Nearly 20 percent of Mesa residents who reside near the Center live in poverty, which allows the Center to provide services to those most in need. Another task of the Center is to reach out to Mesa’s Hispanic community, which makes up 29 percent of the city population; just 33 percent of Mesa’s Hispanic population have completed an Associate degree or higher, providing the Center another opportunity to serve.

Endangered, native desert pupfish took another step towards recovery in November 2014 when more than 300 were released by the Arizona Game and Fish Department into a refuge pond at MCC's Red Mountain campus. The fish that were released came from ponds at the Phoenix Zoo and Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center. Both partners work to help reproduce pupfish. These partnerships not only reintroduced the pupfish to a natural habitat, but provide community outreach and a natural outdoor learning labs for students.

“Partnerships are the key to helping recover Arizona’s native wildlife species that are in peril,” said Mike Rabe, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s nongame wildlife branch chief. “Establishment of these refuge populations provides important opportunities for partners to actively participate in meaningful recovery work.”

Confirming MCC at Red Mountain’s reputation as an eco-friendly environment, the North American Native Plant Society bestowed the 2014 Founders Conservation Award on Red Mountain for contributions “to the conservation, protection, or restoration of the natural heritage/native flora of North America at the community, regional, provincial, national or intercontinental level.”

It also proves the value of helping public agencies restore or conserve native fish and frogs important to the ecosystem, and illustrates how educational institutions can have environmentally friendly campuses at a low cost.

MCC has increased its internet capacity and bandwidth, standardized software and collaborative buying, which saved more than $500,000, and developed a five-year strategic technology plan that continues to focus on integrating teaching and learning while reducing operational costs through consolidation and cross training.  

Since 2010 MCC has replenished the entire technology infrastructure, including state-of-the-art upgrades for network, enterprise, desktop, audio-visual, servers and storage. Since 2011 a campus-wide PC Refresh Initiative has deployed more than 3,000 new computers.

Additional changes include predictive analytics implementation through Blackboard, Canvas and Sharepoint; universal wifi and computing for all students at all MCC locations; Cloud computing with Google, Canvas, and Microsoft Customer Relations Management (CRM); and access to Internet 2, a consortium of colleges, business, industry and government dedicated to accelerating research discovery.

More than 200 residential faculty have benefitted from the faculty tablet program, which provides instructors with iPads to help with teaching, organization, computing mobility and communications. In addition, audio-visual technology has been upgraded for 45 campus classrooms. MCC IT also has developed an Information Security Department staffed with a security professional.

Over the past five years, the Disability Resources & Services (DRS) department has served 3,545 students, with a 35% increase in students served each year. Program Advisors meet individually with each student to provide equal access in their educational and campus experience through academic accommodations. Knowledgeable and well-trained staff provide demonstrations, trainings and assistance on assistive technology hardware and software. Students registered with DRS have access to the Adaptive Lab.

Accommodations for students with hidden disabilities (learning disabilities, ADHD, mental health, medical) include testing accommodations, note taking technology, and alternative format. We also have the College Advancement Program which offers students individual assistance in time management, organization, and study skill development. These services promote independence and self-advocacy while providing equal access.

Services for Blind/Visually Impaired students include converting print materials to Braille, Embossments/Tactiles and electronic text. Services for Deaf/Hard of Hearing students include Interpreting, CART services, captioning services and note taking. We offer classroom assistance for our students with physical disabilities.

Military veterans make up nearly 5 percent of MCC’s headcount and FTSE (Full Time Student Equivalent is a formula for counting full time student enrollment). Since 2010 the numbers of Veterans served have fluctuated from 1,038 to 1,127 of unduplicated headcount per fall semester, while FTSE has increased from 565 in 2010 to 639 in the fall of 2014. The Veteran Services Center for Student Success officially opened in Oct. 2013 on MCC’s Southern and Dobson Campus in the Kirk Student Center and is open to the public.

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The number of students accessing MCC Disability Resources & Services  has increased 35% each year for the last five years.

Mesa Community College and all other Maricopa Community Colleges were designated as 2015 Military Friendly Schools® by Victory Media. 

Veteran students at the 2014 MCC Veterans Summit; a forum for veterans to network with local business and nonprofit organizations.

MCC has the largest American Indian population of all the colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, and serves all 22 Tribes of Arizona as well as more than 30 out-of-state Tribes. The number of American Indian students at MCC rose from 763 in 2004 to 1,115 in 2012, or 4.5 percent of the college’s student population. In the Fall of 2014, 65 percent of the 1,852 American Indian students at MCC successfully completed the semester and stayed in school.

Navajo language courses are also unique to MCC. Why Navajo? It is the most used Native American language, spoken by an estimated 150,000 people.

The Institute strives to include community engagement, university collaboration, resource development, K-12 collaboration, student support services and networks, building Tribal relations, outreach and recruitment in its annual strategic goals.

For more than a decade Empire Southwest and MCC have successfully partnered to administer the ThinkBIG Apprentice Program, a two-year college-level curriculum providing students with the education and skills necessary to become heavy-equipment diesel technicians.  

Program graduates receive an Associate in Applied Science Degree from Mesa Community College and Caterpillar Dealer Service Technician credentials, which are recognized by all Caterpillar dealers worldwide.

Cohort of students completing ThinkBIG program in May 2014; pictured with faculty and MCC President, Dr. Pan. Each student earned an Associate in Applied Science and Caterpillar Dealer Service Technician credentials.