NACCE Honors Five Community Colleges for Entrepreneurial Excellence
NACCE named five community colleges as institutions demonstrating entrepreneurial excellence at the Entrepreneurial College of Excellence Awards breakfast during the American Association of Community College’s annual conference April 30 in Dallas.
Springfield, MA, May 02, 2018 --(PR.com)-- The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), the nation’s leading organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship through community colleges, has named five community colleges as institutions demonstrating entrepreneurial excellence at the Entrepreneurial College of Excellence Awards breakfast during the American Association of Community College’s annual conference April 30 in Dallas.
The competition invited NACCE member colleges that have signed the Presidents For Entrepreneurship Pledge (PFEP) to self-nominate as a “college of excellence” in one of the five steps outlined in the pledge to advance entrepreneurship in their communities. The steps include:
- Create or expand internal and external teams dedicated to entrepreneurship
- Increase entrepreneurs’ engagement in community colleges
- Engage in industry cluster development.
- Leverage community college and community assets to spur innovation and job creation
- Create buzz and broad exposure of your college’s commitment to entrepreneurship
The 2018 College of Excellence Award Winners are:
Step 1: Algonquin College - Ottawa, Ontario
Step 2: College of DuPage – Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Step 3: Austin Community College – Austin, Texas
Step 4: Wake Technical Community College – Raleigh, North Carolina
Step 5: North Iowa Area Community College – Mason City, Iowa
“The awards recognize innovative work that members are doing,” said NACCE President and CEO Rebecca Corbin. “By winning this award, community colleges enhance their credibility to document success and attract investment in entrepreneurship in their local community. They also create valuable content and contribute to NACCE’s documentation of best practices, which are shared with community colleges nationwide.”
NACCE initiated the PFEP in 2011 as a way of encouraging positive change across campuses and in classrooms. In January 2017, NACCE launched its first College of Excellence national competition. The 2017 winners were: College of San Mateo (CA); Fayetteville Technical Community College (NC); Madisonville Community College (KY); South Mountain Community College (AZ) and Lorain County Community College (OH).
Participants in the competition had to be current Presidents For Entrepreneurship Pledge participants. A panel of non-NACCE board members and non-participating college presidents selected the winners. For more information about the PFEP, contact Rebecca Corbin at corbin@nacce.com.
About NACCE
NACCE is an organization of educators, administrators, presidents and entrepreneurs focused on inciting entrepreneurship in their communities and on their campuses. NACCE has two main goals: to empower the college to approach the business of running a community college with an entrepreneurial mindset; and to grow the community college’s role in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs in their local ecosystems. NACCE has over 330 member colleges, representing nearly 2,000 members and approximately 3.3 million students.For more information, visit www.nacce.com.
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