University Center Board of Visitors Host MDC President

David Dodson speaks on closing the educational opportunity gap
 
GREENVILLE, SC – October 27, 2011 – David Dodson, President of MDC, an organization that helps institutions and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity, recently addressed the University Center of Greenville’s Board of Visitors.
 
According to Dodson, there is a tremendous opportunity gap in the United States today, specifically with minority cultures and low-wealth communities. 60 years ago, the United States led the world as the most educated, measured by the number of 25-34 aged citizens with post-secondary education. Today, the US has fallen to anywhere from number 9-13, behind countries including Canada, South Korea, Japan, and most countries in Western Europe. Post-secondary education is considered anything that helps a person develop living wage skills—from a four-year baccalaureate to a specialty license, like HVAC or electrician. Specifically in the South, Virginia is the only state to rank above the U.S. average for the number of post-secondary degrees, due in part to the Northern Virginia/DC metropolitan area. The rest of the southern states are lagging behind in educational competitiveness. MDC, along with many other institutions and foundations, is working to change that.
 
“Historically, the general focus for this type of initiative has been surrounding access to education, but current schools of thought are now focusing more on completion. It is not enough anymore to simply get students enrolled to raise the educational bar. Considering the path of education from middle school to university as a pipeline, there exists countless reasons students drop out, or “loss points,” along the way – be it cultural, financial, or institutional. What is needed to combat the losses are “momentum points,” or encouraging student experiences that propel them forward, like mentoring and strong support services that institutions can offer,” says Dodson.
 
The opportunity gap is greatly impacted by the educational eco-system— or the culture in which a community values or devalues education, and how businesses and institutions impact it. Much is being done to address the gap at the policy level, but true change relies on local implementation. Dodson quoted Management Consultant Peter Drucker during his presentation, stating, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Institutional climate, marketplace and family culture, and socio-economic status are all factors that can make the opportunity gap more challenging to close. Organizations that directly impact the underserved populations, in partnership with entities like MDC and the University Center of Greenville, can collectively to change the status quo. If the idea of success can be normalized for the typically underserved populations, completing post-secondary credentials can become possible to those most affected. Managing this gap reduction can in turn help break the chain of intergenerational poverty.
 
Dodson stressed that one crucial piece of successfully changing this institutional climate is working with organizations and foundations that support the affected cultures. MDC’s work correlates with recent initiatives of the Lumina and Gates Foundations The Lumina Foundation for Education’s “Big Goal” is to increase significantly the numbers of students who complete postsecondary career certificates and associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, so that 60 percent of all working adults (ages 25 to 64) will have one of these credentials by 2025. The Gates Foundation also has a similar Postsecondary Success Strategy, aimed at dramatically increasing the number of young adults who complete their postsecondary education, setting them up for success in the workplace and in life.
 
When reaching for these large strides in closing the educational opportunity gap, Dodson stressed that true implementation happens at the local level. Supporting the Greenville Community in this way through its mission is the University Center of Greenville. Coupling the established infrastructure, with the strengths of eight educational institutions and numerous community partnerships, the University Center’s main goal is to raise the number of baccalaureate degrees holders to 40% – a level comparable to other communities with which Greenville competes.
 
University Center President & CEO Fred Baus adds, “We can’t raise Greenville’s educational competitiveness by simply increasing graduates from populations that already have educational access. We need to reach demographics that have never considered post-secondary education to be possible. As a community, we need to adapt the ‘educational climate’ to accommodate these individuals and the cultures from which they come.”
 
Visit www.mdcinc.org to learn more about MDC and its mission. For more information about the University Center, visit www.UCGreenville.org.

 
About University Center of Greenville
The University Center of Greenville, Inc. is a coalition of university and community leaders dedicated to increasing access to educational opportunities for the Greater Greenville area. The center offers more than 75 undergraduate and graduate degrees through eight institution partners: Clemson, Furman, Lander, Greenville Tech, Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina State, University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina Upstate. It offers state-of-the-art technologies and diverse delivery systems, including day, evening, weekend, and distance classes, for both traditional and adult students. Bringing together public and private sector leaders and higher education institutions positions UCG to meet the education and talent needs of its citizens, and help drive Greenville’s competitiveness. For more information, please call 864.250.1111 or visit www.ucgreenville.org.