| Mary Nichols, Dean of the U of M's College of Continuing Education, and Don Sargeant, UMC Chancellor, signed a collaboration agreement on October 22. |
UMC and U of M College of Continuing Education to Collaborate
The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities College of Continuing Education (CCE) have formalized an agreement to collaborate on new educational ventures. The agreement comes out of an October 22, 2001, visit to the Crookston campus by new CCE dean, Mary Nichols, and a dozen other key program staff members from CCE.
This visit is the first of a series. Nichols’ goal is to visit each of the U of M system’s coordinate campuses to share its outreach mission, to promote collaboration, to learn more about each campus and its mission, and to discuss collaboration opportunities.
Nichols has been the new dean of CCE since September of this year, and in that time she and other CCE officials have refined the institution’s mission to focus on four educational areas: 1) professional development, 2) personal enrichment, 3) career and life transition training, 4) non-credit courses and certifications.
Examining the Minnesota Legislature’s current budget trends—and trends in other states as well—top officials predict the U of M can eventually expect less than 20 percent of its budget to come from state funds. In order to be proactive to that scenario, CCE and UMC are working to develop collaborative programs in order to achieve greater budget efficiency while still maintaining the widest number of program offerings.
Over the last year Jane Sims, director of UMC’s Center for Adult Learning, had made connections with Nichols and others in CCE. “We were extremely excited when we heard there was interest from those in CCE at the Twin Cities in visiting our campus to see what we’ve been working on. We think there are definitely areas where UMC can contribute to CCE and vice versa. Some of the collaborative possibilities we’d like to further discuss involve technology transfer and training, manufacturing career training, and personal enrichment programs like Elderhostel and Great Conversations, just to name a few.”
At the signing of the collaboration agreement, Nichols stated, “UMC has a lot to offer, and we think there are some compelling possibilities for collaboration to strengthen both institutions’ missions. We see several possible complementary programs through which we could work with UMC.”
“We’re very proud to be a part of the University of Minnesota system,” said UMC Chancellor Don Sargeant after signing the UMC/CCE agreement. “And this type of collaboration within the University system is the kind of thing that should happen. We’re excited about the possibilities, and after their visit, we can tell that Mary Nichols and the others in CCE are too. Future collaborations with CCE will be another way that UMC can benefit the people of northwest Minnesota and the entire state.”
Posted 10/25/2001
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435