Riverland Community College will host the MnSCU Charting the Future Gallery Walk Oct. 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Atrium at the Albert Lea Campus. Students, faculty, staff and the community are all welcome to attend this open-house style event to learn more about the work of the Charting the Future (CTF) teams and – most importantly – provide feedback about the initial ideas.

Riverland and other Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are engaged in a collaborative process called Charting the Future to develop specific actions to better serve MnSCU’s 435,000 students and communities, strengthen its colleges and universities, and protect its unique character and autonomy.

Even though Riverland and MnSCU remain steadfastly committed to their compact with Minnesota, the system understands its ability to fulfill this promise is at risk – threatened by challenges that could weaken educational quality and the ability to deliver on its commitments:

• Funding shifts that threaten quality, access, and affordability;
• Increasing competition that affects enrollments in our degree programs, customized training and continuing education;
• Population shifts in which a larger share of Minnesotans are moving to a handful of metropolitan areas; and
• Threats to our authority to govern.

The effort addressing these challenges is Charting the Future, and the work stems from six recommendations developed with input from more than 5,000 students, faculty, and staff which were adopted by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees in November 2013:

• Dramatically increase the success of all learners, especially those in diverse populations traditionally underserved by higher education. Click for more.
• Develop a collaborative and coordinated academic planning process that advances affordability, transferability, and access to our programs and services across the state. Click for more.
• Certify student competencies and capabilities, expand pathways to accelerate degree completion through credit for prior learning, and foster the award of competency-based credit and degrees. Click for more.
• Expand the innovative use of technology to deliver high quality online courses, strengthen classroom instruction and student services, and provide more individualized learning and advising. Click for more.
• Work together under new models to be the preferred provider of comprehensive workplace solutions through programs and services that build employee skills and solve real-world problems for communities and businesses across the state. Click for more.
• Redesign our financial and administrative models to reward collaboration, drive efficiencies, and strengthen our ability to provide access to an extraordinary education for all Minnesotans. Click for more.

To act on the recommendations and translate them into specific actions, eight campus-led implementation teams comprised of students, faculty, and staff were launched. You can view the full rosters here.

Charting the Future (CTF) implementation teams in the areas of Student Success, Diversity, Comprehensive Workplace Solutions, and System Incentives & Rewards have spent the past several months researching and developing initial ideas that will better serve our students and communities across the state and strengthen our colleges and universities.

The implementation teams that began convening this fall include:

• Academic Planning and Collaboration, Convened by President Richard Hanson
• Competency Certification and Credit for Prior Learning, Convened by President Annette Parker
• Education Technology, Convened by President Ron Anderson
• Information Technology Systems Design, Convened by Vice Chancellor Ramon Padilla

Riverland’s participants on the implementation team include Dr. Adenuga Atewologun and J.C. Turner as part of the Information Technology Systems Design team and Attina Earl as part of the Student Success team.

To learn more about the teams and the work being completed, visit the Charting the Future blog. You can also join the conversation by following @mnscu and using #ChartingTheFuture, or sending ideas, concerns or feedback to MyIdeas@so.mnscu.edu.