RCC is a dynamic academic institution, engaged in preparing students for the educational and workforce opportunities of the 21st century.  We have an outstanding curriculum, excellent advisors, tutoring and writing centers, transfer services, a caring faculty and staff.  During the 2012-2013 academic year, we will build on the record of the 388 associate degrees and certificates that were awarded to RCC’s 2012 graduating class. 

I am eager to begin this semester– my first full semester as President– and look forward to meeting and talking to our students, faculty and staff in the hallways, common areas, and classrooms. Also, I will continue the College’s support of the Roxbury community – a community rich in history and progress.  I want to assure all of you that my door is open.

We have many excellent programs and much to celebrate.  For example, RCC has tripled the rate at which students who start in remedial math advance to college-level math courses. Last semester, RCC’s three years of sustained student success improvement helped the campus win recognition as an Achieving the Dream Leader College, one of only 23 community colleges chosen nationally. Achieving the Dream, as many of you know, is a national nonprofit in the forefront of the most comprehensive non-governmental reform network for community college student success.

Through the Achieving the Dream program, I am also pleased to report that RCC was recently selected as one of 15 community colleges across the country to be awarded a $100,000 Walmart PRESS for Completion grant. Sponsored by the Walmart Foundation and administered by Achieving the Dream, this grant will enable RCC to better engage faculty and staff in important campus-based reform efforts and ensure that more students have a better chance of staying in school and obtaining a market-valued credential.

So now we begin another year in our journey to fulfill our mission – helping students “Achieve the Dream.” Together, let us deepen our knowledge of the world and each other. Our greatest asset is our people. Our faculty and staff are committed to excellence and student success.

I look forward to our continued work together.

 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Linda Edmonds Turner, Ph.D.
Interim President

Roxbury community College