On Educational Excellence, Montgomery College this year markedly increased use of Open Educational
Resources, such as Massive Open Online Courses -- MOOCs …helping prepare students for future
study while providing much-needed financial benefit to students.
“There really is urgency to learning this new format, because students need to learn
how to learn…what my students have learned is how to go about learning more materials,
and love it or hate it you have to learn how to learn online these days.”
Another educational initiative, the Global Humanities Institute, promotes understanding
and mutual respect for people with diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives here
in the U.S. and around the world. The program works to expand students’ learning experiences
and better prepare them for learning and working in the global marketplace.
The College’s Athenaeum Symposia kicked off its speaker series of programs featuring
timely, stimulating topics delivered by today’s leading experts in international affairs,
the arts, politics, and economics. Speakers have included award-winning author Reyna Grande
… South African Ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool … and Montgomery College’s
own Dr. Hercules Pinkney.
The series, named for entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam, is helping to shape the next
generation of leaders for America.
The Clinical Trial Management Course, a collaborative program of Montgomery College and Amarex Clinical
Research … a pharmaceutical product development company … teaches valuable skills for careers
in the pharmaceutical industry. The popular course even attracts students in India, who
take the course online. We are a leading biotechnology hub throughout
the entire nation – literally around the world – and to the end that we can have
collaboration between the private sector, and our academic institutions, we provide
our clinical practitioners the skills that they need.”
It’s a marriage, actually, between the College and Amarex Clinical Research in actually giving
the students the chance to see what clinical research and management of a clinical program
is all about. This course was priceless. I feel confident…to
be a leader in the clinical trial medical clinical field.
In September, Montgomery College dedicated the new Bioscience Education Center on the
Germantown Campus. The state-of-the-art 145-thousand square-foot building strengthens Montgomery
College’s science education programs to meet the county's need for a highly skilled
STEM workforce.
Dr. Pollard: “Our Bioscience Education Center will fortify our workforce, from lab bench
workers to the next generation of scientists. It will fuel our economy, and it will drive
new discoveries and open new vistas.”
The three-story building represents an investment of nearly 88-million dollars in STEM education
and workforce development,
“I think it’s a big step forward for students, teachers, faculty – everything. And for
me, personally moving forward in public health, it’s a huge advantage compared to other schools moving forward in
my career.”
Educational Excellence … Access, Affordability and Success … Economic Development … Community
Engagement … and Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness … each theme a critical part of our framework
for achievement and success. It’s our 2020 Vision for Montgomery College … and we can’t
wait to get there.