Staff Report
Allan Hancock College is one of only 30 colleges nationwide nominated for the prestigious 2022 Bellwether Award. The annual awards are part of the Community College Futures Assembly, a consortium that identifies and supports best practices and innovative programs in higher education. The Bellwether Awards are widely regarded as one of the nation’s most competitive and prestigious recognitions for community colleges.
Hancock is one of 10 colleges nationwide nominated in the Planning, Governance and Finance category, which recognizes programs or activities that improve efficiency and effectiveness within a community college. The nomination for Hancock recognizes its automatic degree and certificate awarding program, which allows Hancock students to automatically receive a degree or certificate when all academic and credit requirements are satisfied. Previously, Hancock students had to apply for degrees and certificates.
“I am extremely proud of this nomination as it recognizes the extraordinary efforts of our staff and faculty who created the auto-awarding program,” said Hancock Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “Hancock is dedicated to student success, and the automatic degree and certificate awarding program allows our students to reap the rewards of their hard work and graduate, transfer or successfully enter their careers sooner.”
As a Bellwether finalist, Hancock will undergo a rigorous final round of review at the 28th Annual Community College Futures Assembly Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. Each nominated college will provide a 60-minute presentation on its program to a national panel composed of skilled practitioners and thought leaders in their category.
“The Bellwether College Consortium prides itself on identifying and celebrating replicable, scalable and results-based programs and models and disseminating these highly lauded examples of institutional success to peer institutions,” said Bellwether College Consortium Director Dr. Rose Martinez.
Prize winners will be announced in February 2022. To learn more about the 2022 Bellwether Award, visit www.bellwethercollegeconsortium.com.
