UCC gets good grades
Ranked 13th nationally from Washington Monthly and awarded “military friendly” from G.I. Jobs Magazine

Washington Monthly ranked UCC 13 on its 2010 list of America’s 50 Best Community Colleges. No other Oregon community college made the list.

“Clearly, we’re thrilled with this ranking and with the exposure it gives UCC in our nation’s capital, “ said UCC President Blaine Nisson. “We’re proud of our school and work hard to serve the public. This ranking shows that our students appreciate our efforts and that there is recognized value in that.”

Listed between Georgia Military College and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, UCC scored in the top five in four out of the six categories.

Information was compiled through a survey called the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and by looking at graduation rates published by the U.S. Department of Education. The magazine gave weighted importance to schools with a strong service mission and students with high enrollment of lower-income students.

Community colleges were ranked according to the following criteria: Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-Faculty Interaction, Support for Learning and Four-year Graduation Rate.

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) is a 104 question survey given to a representative sample of students at community colleges throughout the U.S. Participation was voluntary, and more than 60 percent of U.S. community colleges were included in rankings.

The CCSSE sets a benchmark for scores; in all CCSSE categories, UCC ranked above average when last collated in 2008. However, UCC ranked the lowest of the top 20 in graduation rate and next to the lowest out of the top 50.

Although the CCSSE constructed this data for comparison purposes, it does not endorse the use of their data for rankings. They warn that readers should be aware of statistical margins of error, and that the differences between colleges are small.

UCC has also been designated as a “military friendly school,” by G.I. Jobs Magazine. This puts UCC in the top 15 percent of schools nationwide with this designation.

“I think its exciting,” says Ann Abel, the Veteran’s certifying official and coordinator of the UCC’s Veterans Education Service Office. “We go above and beyond to serve the veterans and their dependents in accomplishing their educational goals.” A plaque for this honor is displayed in Abel’s office in Campus Center.

G.I. Jobs compiled The Military Friendly Schools list through research done by their team regarding the following criteria:

Effort 1, defined as certifications, measures a school’s non-financial efforts to recruit and maintain military and veteran students. This includes things like VA approval to accept the GI Bill and a college’s flexible learning programs. This criteria is weighted most strongly by the researchers.

Effort 2, defined as financial commitment, measures a school’s financial efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students. Researchers looked at UCC’s tuition benefits and the percent of the overall recruitment budget allocated to recruiting military students.

The G.I. Jobs researchers also looked at the school’s academic accreditations.

For more information about educational services for veterans and their dependents, contact: Ann Abel, UCC Veteran Services Coordinator, at(541) 440-4621 or Ann.Abel@umpqua.edu.

The Mainstream is a student publication of Umpqua Community College.