Preamble
Two-year colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers, and family-supporting wages. With a focus on access, affordability, and flexibility, community colleges have and continue to make significant contributions to meet the needs of the 21st-century economy. A postsecondary credential is not just a pathway to the middle class. It also ensures that the country is globally competitive, and that a skilled citizenry is equipped to perform jobs of the future.
Community colleges deliver educational and economic opportunity to more than 12 million diverse students in search of the American Dream, and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) serves as their collective voice. Located in Washington, DC, AACC advocates for community colleges to ensure they have the resources and support they need to deliver on the mission of increasing economic mobility for all.
STRATEGY 1
Elevate the value of AACC membership.
- Provide members with high-quality customer service, continue to increase touchpoints, and ensure member satisfaction and retention.
- Routinely review trends and issues impacting community colleges and ensure that Association offerings are aligned with community colleges’ most pressing needs.
- Showcase cutting-edge innovation for institutional transformation and student success.
- Provide opportunities for community colleges to realize operational and financial efficiency.
- Collaborate with philanthropic organizations, government, and the private sector to drive investment in the nation’s community colleges.
- Create opportunities that allow members to connect with each other around topics of interest.
- Offer affordable, high-quality technical assistance in areas that support student success.
- Celebrate milestones and achievements of the Association and its member colleges.
STRATEGY 2
Maintain AACC’s position as THE thought leader and preeminent voice for community colleges.
- Establish the national agenda for and develop a list of trends and issues impacting community colleges annually.
- Serve as the voice of community colleges at the federal level with related state and local outreach.
- Convene thought leaders, think tanks, and affiliated organizations to shine a national spotlight on student success initiatives.
- Curate external research and reports focused on community colleges and provide timely analysis allowing member institutions to forecast, plan for, or respond to trends and issues impacting the sector.
- Become the exclusive provider of at least one data set that is critical to the community college story.
- Articulate the community college position on federal legislation and provide prompt, actionable communications to members regarding why they should support or oppose legislation.
- Advance the AACC 21st-Century Center as the resource to learn about innovation in the sector.
STRATEGY 3
Advocate for the nation’s community colleges
- Support legislation and member-driven efforts to create new incentives that make student success and completion a priority while preserving open access.
- Pursue critical resources for institutions and students from the federal government, philanthropic organizations and industry.
- Seek opportunities to engage members in advocating for community college priorities with Congressional leaders.
- Release well-timed articles and thought leadership pieces through AACC’s communications so that members keep abreast of key activities impacting their colleges and innovations taking place in community colleges.
STRATEGY 4
Incubate, launch, and promote innovation and professional development designed for community college faculty, staff, and administrators.
- Design new and revamp existing professional development offerings for a multi-generational workforce and utilize alternate methods to deliver content to members when possible.
- Ensure that the equity and closing achievement gaps are at the heart of all offerings, including support for diversity in the recruitment and hiring of leaders.
- Conduct a bi-annual review of the AACC Competencies for Community College Leaders and revise as appropriate so that the document is in its most current form.
- Seek opportunities to provide access to innovation and professional development on topics aligned with community college priorities.
Create opportunities for leaders of member institutions to teach and learn from their peers regarding the latest best practices for institutional transformation and student success.