Dear CC Community,

As we wrap up our second year of P roject 2024, we are thrilled to share our Year Two Report. This details what we’ve done to move from ideas to action plans.

The Project 2024 Steering Committee pursued several initiatives this year. All of them build on what we heard in last year’s campus-wide discussions of the questions:

How can we do what we do better?
Of the challenges experts say face higher education, which will most likely affect CC?

Please see our Year Two Report for the steering committee’s proposals and recommendations. Highlights include detailed recommendations for reinforcing liberal learning and for better valuing our people. The report also describes efforts to create connections across offices and divisions and to identify possible responses to key higher ed challenges.

We are grateful for the ongoing dedication of our Project 2024 Steering Committee and the work of students, faculty, and staff who have participated in a multitude of ways throughout this comprehensive visioning project.

Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Environmental Students Program Corina McKendry shares the rewards of serving on the steering committee and explains how our CC community inspired her and this work.

Here’s what else has been underway since the last update in March.

In response to what we heard about how to do what we do better, the steering committee worked on two initiatives this year. These are detailed in the Year Two Report linked above. They involve:

Action Plans: This spring, the committee consolidated and vetted the options identified in the fall and developed proposals for changes in two main categories: Reinforcing Liberal Learning and Valuing Our People.
Connection and Time in the context of everyday work: Conversations within and across divisions identified specific ways of saving time and increasing collaboration. These ideas have either been implemented or are in the works. The discussions also revealed patterns which help explain the climate of distrust registered in the Modern Think Employee Engagement Survey and in Year 1 Project 2024 meetings. These issues shaped the steering committee’s thinking as it considered how best to promote a thriving community.

In addition, President Richardson appointed four exploratory groups to assess the effects of the challenges to higher education most relevant to CC and to identify possible responses. Those groups included faculty, staff, students, alumni, and parents, and focused on:

The financial model
The demographic “cliff”
The role of online learning
The effects of screens and social media on cognitive function and learning

Their reports, expected in the next few weeks, will contribute to work already under way at the college on these issues.

Plan for Year 3

In keeping with the collaborative inspiration of Project 2024, the next steps join campus leadership, staff, faculty, and students in implementing proposals for action.

Depending on the nature of the specific proposals, further work and decisions will fall to established committees, ad hoc task-focused groups, and the Cabinet — or a mix of these.

The Project 2024 Steering Committee will coordinate efforts, ensure continuity, pursue the proposals that require still more discussion, and work on other ideas from Project 2024 discussions that merit attention.

The committee will keep track of our collective progress and share it on the Project 2024 website and through regular updates to campus groups.

Thank you for your continued participation and interest in this work.

Sincerely,

Susan A. Ashley

Professor of History and Project 2024 Coordinator

L. Song Richardson

President

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