Winners of 2010 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award Announced

SEATTLE, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Three community colleges were named today as the winners of the 2010 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award, which honors the important roles community colleges play in addressing educational, social, and economic needs and opportunities. The winners of the award program, which is administered by Jobs for the Future and sponsored by MetLife Foundation, will each receive a $50,000 grant.

The winning colleges are:

• Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California for Service to Students. The college has demonstrated a sustained commitment and clear strategies to help larger numbers of students succeed through its Opening Doors to Excellence initiative. This campus-wide program intervenes with students on academic or progress probation and helps them keep on track toward a degree.
• Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington for Service to Communities. The college is successfully addressing demographic and economic change in its community through its Brownfields to Green initiative. The program combines environmental mitigation with opportunities for older adults and veterans to retrain for future employment.
• Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois for Service Through Innovation. The lack of health care for rural communities inspired Lewis and Clark to develop the Nurse Managed Care program. This initiative includes mobile care units that reach the underserved and incorporates training for future nurses.

"These three colleges are exceptional examples of what community colleges do well," said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "All community colleges can recognize something of themselves in these winners and gain new perspectives from their examples."

"Innovations on community college campuses are instrumental in retraining and reenergizing the U.S. workforce," said Marlene Seltzer, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future. "These three MetLife Foundation awardees are sterling examples of creative solutions that specifically address the challenges in their own communities and expand opportunities for the students and workers of the future."

The winners of the 2010 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award were selected after a careful review process, involving a National Advisory Review Panel of experts and Jobs for the Future staff. Two hundred fifteen applications were received, and then narrowed down in stages to nine finalists for site visits. Based on this rigorous process, the three award winners were selected.

Six other community colleges were named as finalists, and will each receive a $20,000 grant from MetLife Foundation.  The finalists in each of the three award categories were: (For Service to Students) Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, South Carolina; Queensborough Community College, New York, New York; (For Service to Community) Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, Iowa; (For Service Through Innovation) Erie Community College, Buffalo, New York; Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Virginia.

For full descriptions of the award winners and finalists, visit http://bit.ly/3Bay5K to download a copy of the award brochure.

MetLife Foundation supports education, health, civic, and cultural organizations. It seeks to increase opportunities for young people to succeed, encourage leadership development for teachers and principals, and connect schools, families, colleges and communities. Its funding for education is informed by findings from the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. For more information, visit www.metlife.org.

Jobs for the Future identifies, develops, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In nearly 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.  JFF administers the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award. For more information, visit www.jff.org.

SOURCE MetLife Foundation