From Harford Community College:
Students and college leaders from Harford Community College will join hundreds of other students from Maryland community colleges in Annapolis for Student Advocacy Day on Thursday, February 9, to meet with lawmakers and to urge them to boost operating funding for the state’s two-year colleges, whose budgets have been hit hard at the state and county levels for the past five years. The Governor’s proposed FY 2013 operating budget includes a modest increase this year of $4.7 million in state aid, but it would be more than offset by a proposed shift in pension costs to counties amounting to a possible $9.5 million.
Representatives from Harford Community College who plan to attend the event in the State Capital include Dr. Dennis Golladay, Harford Community College President; Dr. Deborah Cruise, Harford Community College Vice President for Student Development and Institutional Effectiveness; and Dr. John Cox, Harford Community College Vice President for Finance, Operations, and Government Relations.
Speakers for the annual Community College Student Advocacy Day kickoff event will include student leaders, key Maryland lawmakers, and community college presidents. After the morning gathering, students will visit the offices of their respective state delegates and senators. While advocating for budget and legislative priorities of their colleges, students also will seek to raise awareness of the important role played by Maryland’s community colleges in higher education and their benefits to the state.
Community colleges are the gateway to higher education for more students than ever. Half of all undergraduate students in Maryland are now enrolled in the state’s community colleges.
Increasing the number of students who earn degrees and other credentials is vital to the economic future of the state and nation, and both national and state leaders have called the completion agenda an economic imperative.
Maryland’s community colleges are committed to addressing the completion challenge. In 2012, the state’s “Skills2Compete Maryland” agenda calls for a 20 percent increase in degree and certificate attainment.
The schedule for this event is as follows:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
9 AM Kickoff Event
Miller Senate Office Building, Presidential Conference Room
11 Bladen Street, Annapolis, Maryland
Followed by student group visits with state legislators between 10:30 a.m. and noon
12:30 PM – Photo Opportunity: Students from colleges around the state will meet on the
front steps of the State House for group photo.
I have to confess I’m not an activist and don’t really think like one… It seems to me that the logical step missing from this little day of activism should and ought to conclude with a lobbying effort to draw public support for their objectives. I see a group photo appearing on the schedule of events and my first thought is, “This has more look of a trip to the zoo [and that may metaphorically be true] than to persuade the General Assembly?!?” Is it any wonder so many people are idiots in the voting booth? Wow. I’m not all that smart, but some people just make me feel brilliant.