Covid-19
Incoming MCC president looks ahead to fall semester after year marked by COVID
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Brighton, N.Y. – Monroe Community College’s next president says, after a year marked by COVID-19, the college is already looking ahead for the fall.
Dr. DeAnna Burt-Nanna will become the college’s sixth president on May 10.
Over the past academic year, the college saw a 12% decline in enrollment amid the pandemic.
MCC is already taking steps to boost enrollment for the fall semester. Dr. Burt-Nanna says those efforts include continuing to meet students’ basic needs – ranging from bridging economic needs to providing childcare.
There’s also ensuring the college’s programming meets regional demands. Burt-Nanna says she also sees a needed focus on connecting adult learners with short-term career fields and needed credentials.
“The area that we’re in, in the Finger Lakes region and Monroe County, is very suited for the types of program offerings in the technologies, in artificial intelligence, and the things that are keystone to that particular focus on Industry 4.0 – artificial intelligence and other things as well related to technology, which is also my background, in STEM,” she said Tuesday, speaking with the Rochester Rotary. “So, I have both a personal interest and an investment in making sure that we stay focused in that we’re readying our students for those short-term career fields and credentials that are needed.”
MCC, she says, also plays a crucial role in the community at large – especially amid calls for social justice.
“I believe that as a higher education institution, that we are both responsible and have the opportunity to train individuals to be the agents of change in a variety of occupations,” she said, “whether it’s law enforcement, healthcare, you name it, whatever fields that we’re in, we should be the persons that are shaping attitude, change, equality.”
Dr. Burt-Nanna says the college is also prepared to help students that may be looking at new fields of study or career, possibly shaped by COVID-19 and the events of the past year.
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