By Jim Purcell
Higher education faculty and staff from across the state will convene today on the campus of Lawson State Community College to officially launch Complete College Alabama, a member of the Complete College America Alliance. I, along with ACHE Chairman Charles Ball and Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy Baker, will sign a declaration signifying our commitment to implement Complete College America’s evidence-based strategies designed to significantly increase the number of students with degrees and credentials of value.
It is through Governor Ivey’s leadership that Alabama has become involved with Complete College America. Educational attainment is a very important part of the governor’s agenda, because she recognizes Alabama’s changing economy requires additional skills at all levels. Now more than ever, we need to ensure all Alabamians have the opportunity to be successful. At our institutions of higher education, we need to do everything we can to establish processes and, in some cases, rethink policies to achieve better outcomes for students.
Governor Ivey has tasked a committee of the Alabama Workforce Council with setting a target number of skilled workers necessary for the state’s economy to prosper. The committee will also formally identify initiatives needed to meet that goal – many of which CCA is already advocating for in states across the country, including rethinking remediation and developing career and academic pathways.
The beauty of CCA’s Game Changer strategies is that they focus on changes that the institutions can make on their own. Faculty and staff who attend the launch event will have the opportunity to learn more about those strategies and how students can benefit from them. They will also hear directly from Alabama institutions that are already implementing Game Changers and starting to see results.
An afternoon workshop will focus on 15 to Finish, CCA’s strategy to boost the number of students who are on track for on-time graduation by encouraging enrollment in 15 credits each semester or 30 credits per year. The vast majority of college students are not taking the credits needed to graduate on time. This increases financial stress and decreases the likelihood that they will earn their degree. Bishop State Community College President Reginald Sykes, who also serves as the Team Lead and Equity Lead for Complete College Alabama, will share his institution’s gains as an early adopter of 15 to Finish.
This is our opportunity to address the needs of our state and the universities. Our commitment to education must be centered on student success. Alabama’s participation in the CCA Alliance will provide resources to make that goal a reality.
