Michigan Colleges Alliance

Scholarships and member services - private scholarship funds represent the area of greatest impact for our campuses, as they allow students to fulfill their education aspirations in small, teaching-oriented settings surrounded by fields of study at the center of our emerging knowledge based economy. Scholarships include michigan scholarship fund, named scholarships, college community challenge scholarships, folds of honor scholarships, have faith haiti scholarship fund and others. Exclusive partnerships with the kalamazoo promise and the sage scholars consortium represent major college affordability initiatives. Other member services include collective purchasing and collective higher education legal services program. Mca awarded 4,220,741 to students at the 15 mca institutions studying a wide range of fields and provided additional operational and programmatic funds to member campuses. Continued work in identifying opportunities for collaboration in shared business-related services and collective purchasing to achieve substantial savings and operational efficiencies.

Talent development - mca develops and manages programs to prepare and retain graduates for the michigan workforce. Examples include: 1) a signature concierge corporate recruiting initiative provides customized access for michigan business to possible interns and employees 2) an annual roundtable on talent is held at the grand hotel on mackinac island, bringing corporate executives together with nationwide college and university presidents to collaborate on workforce development and student success 3)student/faculty project work with michigan companies also highlights mca's talent focus 4) mca also facilitates cross-campus classroom learning opportunities for its members. Held the twelvth consecutive mackinac roundtable on talent with record college president participation and attendees from more than thirty states. Lauched a collective talent development hub for employers to develop and ttract rising talent from member institutions, michigan career connect. Maintained and expanded partnerships with signature michigan companies though the concierge career connection program to secure employment and internship opportunities for students. Continued student entreprenuership competition, the mca college community challenge, with a focus on community impact and social entrepreneurship, including a dedicated pitch session to statewide corporate leaders. Continued collective-wide, multi-disciplinary co-op program with students participating in internships, fall project work and professional development sessions with corporate and community leaders. Began work to develop a framework for a collective-wide model for a new technical distinction(micro-credential)program.