Community College Futures Assembly Box 117049, 229 Norman Hall College of Education Gainesville, FL 32611-7049 School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education (352) 273-4293 Fax: (352) 846-2697

December 10, 2015 2016 Bellwether Award Finalists Announced For immediate release Gainesville, FL. The Community College Futures Assembly announced ten outstanding community college programs (each from the usual three categories) as the Finalists to compete for the 2016 Bellwether Awards. The Assembly had issued a call for Bellwether Award nominations in the fall of 2015, and 30 finalist colleges in three categories were competitively chosen from the applicants. The field of Bellwether nominations was very competitive this year with nearly 300 Bellwether applications. Prior to the application process, over 1,000 community college programs were nominated from a wide range of agencies including peer institutions, conferences, and the media. The ten finalists were selected in each category: Instructional Programs and Services, co-sponsored by the National Council of Instructional Administrators; Planning, Governance and Finance, co-sponsored by the Council for Resource Development; and Workforce Development, co-sponsored by the National Council for Continuing Education and Training. All finalists will present at the Assembly on January 25th, 2016 in Orlando, Florida, and one winner will then be selected from each category by a panel of national experts within each category. The winners will be announced on Jan. 26th at the annual meeting in Orlando. The Community College Futures Assembly has the following programs as 2016 Bellwether Finalist programs:

Instructional Programs & Services (IPS): Programs or activities that have been designed and successfully implemented to foster or support teaching and learning in the community college. Austin Community College, FL ACCelerator: ACCelerating Student Access and Success with the Ultrapersonalization of Learning Bossier Parish Community College, LA Fast-Tracking Skills for Student Success: Open Sourcing at Bossier Parish Community College Cañada College, CA Developing an Intensive Math Preparation Program to Enhance the Success of Underrepresented Students in STEM Carroll Community College, MD Re-Designing Transitional Education Chipola College, FL Creating a Pathway to Graduation Community College of Baltimore County, MD Accelerating Math to Get on Path

Gaston College, NC It All Begins with a SPARC3: The Power of Inquiry and Undergraduate Research at the Community College Jackson State Community College, TN Great Expectations for Brighter ‘Futures’: Navigating Unbounded Pathways McHenry County College, IL Breaking New Ground: An Integrative Approach to Reducing Dependency on Developmental Math Mt. San Antonio College, CA Pathways to Transfer: Accelerating Students into Transfer-Level Courses

Planning, Governance & Finance (PGF): Programs or activities that have been designed and successfully implemented to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the community college. Bellevue College, WA OLS: A Replicable Associate Degree for Adults with Cognitive Disabilities-A Turn-Key Approach Bergen Community College, NJ “Don’t Let Your Graduates Die On the Vine”… A Community College Approach to Increase Graduation Harvest Central Community College, NE GRADES - Guiding Reintegration and Directing Educational Success for Veterans and Military Students through Faculty and Staff Professional Development Community College of Beaver County, PA Designing Academic Pathways: CCBC's High School Academy Lone Star College - University Park, TX The Education and Career Positioning System – Linking Students Pathways to Careers North Lake College, TX The One Stop Shop, Where Veterans Can Start a Successful Journey Rhodes State College, OH Saving Lives: Critical Incident Prevention and Response St. Petersburg College, FL The Evolution of the College Experience at St. Petersburg College Tarrant County College District, TX Critically Thinking about Student Success and Completion Wake Technical Community College, NC Scaling Applied Benchmarking Innovations for Learning

Workforce Development (WD): Public and/or private strategic alliances and partnerships that promote community and economic development. Alamo Colleges, TX Alamo Colleges I-BEST: The Student's Unique Journey East Los Angeles College, CA Great Outcomes for East Los Angeles (GO ELA) A Pathway for College and Career Success Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, with Berkshire, Greenfield and Holyoke Community Colleges, MA Achieving Regional Reach: The 413 STEM Ready Program Meridian Community College, MS Building Student Workforce Skills and Character Within the Community – Brick by Brick Metropolitan Community College – Longview, MO Missouri Innovation Campus: An Early College Approach to Future Workforce Demands MiraCosta College. CA To Protect and Serve – Putting Veterans to Work! Moorpark College, CA Moorpark College’s Biotechnology Program: No Ordinary Pathway - Only Extraordinary Outcomes Pueblo Community College, CO Mobile Learning Labs – Paving New Pathways: Removing Excuses in Each Student’s Journey South Mountain Community College, AZ No Ordinary Pathway to Entrepreneurial Success St. Louis Community College, MO Building a Degree Pathway in Biotechnology from High School to Employment

The Community College Futures Assembly, celebrating the 22nd anniversary this year, convenes annually as an independent national policy forum for key opinion leaders to serve as a think tank in identifying critical issues facing the future of community colleges, and to recognize Bellwether Finalist colleges as trendsetting institutions. For more information, consult the Community College Futures Assembly website, http://education.ufl.edu/futures or email futures@coe.ufl.edu.