Dr. Jennifer Wimbish
Every community college in the nation has an eye on the prize – the Aspen Prize – including Cedar Valley College in Lancaster and two of its sister colleges in the Dallas County Community College District system, Mountain View and North Lake.
It’s a contest they can’t enter themselves. They can’t ask to be considered. But the prize is worth $1 million – and the respect of every community college in the country.
The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, awarded by the Aspen Institute, recognizes institutions for exceptional student outcomes in four key areas: student learning; certificate and degree completion; employment and earnings; and high levels of access and support for minority and low-income students. College completion is a national priority, from the White House to every two-year college in the country.
Dr. Jennifer Wimbish, President of Cedar Valley College, expressed her excitement that her institution is a contender to win the 2015 Aspen Prize as one of the nation’s top 150 community colleges.
“It was an honor for Cedar Valley to be considered for the Aspen Award, based on our outstanding student success,” she said. “This recognition is consistent with our mission and vision of being a premier college, transforming lives, because it is about demonstrated evidence of outstanding student success and achievement.”
Wimbish added, “When our college established benchmarks for demonstrating success, we selected consideration for the Aspen Award as one way to demonstrate that we were advancing toward our vision – our future. We never dreamed that one year after establishing this goal that we would reach it: being considered for this award. This (achievement) shows what a team of people – including students, faculty, staff and community members – can do when they work together.”
The Aspen Institute, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lumina Foundation have partnered to support the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which is given once every two years. The first Aspen Prize was awarded in 2011 to Valencia College in Florida.
Statistical measures of success and completion are key elements in IPEDS data used by the finalist selection committee. For example: the Hispanic population at Cedar Valley College increased by 9.2 percent over the last year, and its male population also grew by 5.3 percent during that same period. CVC’s completion-of-certificates rate for the last year increased by 27 percent, and graduation rates increased by 11 percent. “As a community partner, we also showed success responding to workforce needs by providing employers with individuals who are prepared and successful in the workplace,” added Wimbish.
What does a community college do with a $1 million Aspen Prize?
“Not only would the potential funding of $1 million assist with student-focused programming, but also it would allow us to share our students’ stories with others as well as lessons we have learned,” explained Wimbish. “Advancing to the next round would open other doors for our district, college and students.”
What happens next? Essentially, in round two, 10 finalists are chosen. In mid-March, the colleges submitted questionnaires that requested additional information from the Aspen Institute. Those data reports are reviewed by the finalist selection committee, and 10 finalists then are named. Each of those 10 colleges again is reviewed, based on statistical information; visited; and then analyzed. A prize jury comprising prominent former elected officials, national business and civic leaders, and former community college leaders review the data to select the prize winner plus several finalists with distinction.
For more information about the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, visit http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/aspen-prize/about.