Eduardo J. Padrón
President
Office of the President
300 N.E. Second Avenue
Miami, Florida 33132-2297
305-237-3316
epadron@mdc.edu
Message From the President
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Welcome to a New Academic Year at MDC
Welcome to the 2011-2012 academic year at Miami Dade College. This year promises to be a very special and challenging one for all of us as we move the College in a new direction.
As you heard at today’s Convocation, one of the College’s top priorities for 2011-2012 is increasing student success and completion rates. MDC has several projects in place to support this goal, including MDC³.
To reiterate, MDC³ is a groundbreaking effort to design and implement a model pathway to college completion. The three Cs of MDC³ stand for:
- Commitment – Stresses the need for dedication. Students commit to success; faculty, staff and administrators commit to positive change that facilitates our students' success.
- Community – From this commitment to success comes community, where students are supported by faculty, student services, learning resources and technology. The community works together, maximizing all available resources, to generate success.
- Completion – The result of commitment and community is evidence of students' accomplishments, or completion. Completion can take the form of a certificate, degree or fulfillment of a defined career goal.
MDC³ is a natural continuation of a project that we started many years ago, and it’s an initiative that we are all going to be very proud of. MDC was asked to lead this nationwide effort to increase graduation rates because of our proven record of rising to the challenge and delivering results. MDC³ represents our chance to bring the College to a new level of excellence, and we are grateful that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing us with financial resources to help us redesign the College around our central mission of student success.
We have several other key initiatives this year that are designed to support the College’s already rich tradition of student success and completion. These initiatives include Single Stop, which provides students with a unique range of financial and personal resources throughout their educational journey; the American Dream Scholarship, which will dramatically expand college access for thousands of students annually; and accelerated-degree options, expanded Weekend and Virtual College offerings, and new degree and certificate programs to prepare graduates for high-demand careers in the culinary arts, biological sciences, the gaming industry and much more.
This is an exciting time to be at MDC, a time when we, once again, play a lead role in shaping the educational landscape of our community and our country. Our challenge is to continue what the Learning Outcomes program has done, which is to achieve deeper learning — learning that challenges people and changes lives.
Changing lives is an extraordinary goal, one that moves us, as individuals and as a learning community, to change and grow as well. As always, I look forward to working with you to support our students, every step of the way, as they realize their unique dreams and aspirations. We need to work as a team to make this year a true success, and I am confident in the abilities of each and every one of you.
Let’s keep on rising to the challenge.
Thank you.
Eduardo