Metropolitan Community College (Missouri)

Penn Valley campus

Metropolitan Community College (MCC) is a community college system in Missouri, United States. The system consists of five separate campuses located in Kansas City, Independence, and Lee's Summit. The five campuses have a total enrollment of over 21,000 students per semester. MCC is the oldest public college in greater Kansas City, having been established in 1915 as Kansas City Polytechnic Institute. It was one of the first two-year colleges in the U.S. to award the associate degree.^[1]

MCC campuses

• MCC-Blue River campus is located in Independence, Missouri. The college joined the MCC system in 1997. As of 2010, the campus serves over 3,500 students per semester. In addition to a host of general education programs, MCC-Blue River is home to stellar music and theatre programs. The Metropolitan Chorale of Kansas City performs both locally and nationally throughout the year. Blue River's Public Safety Institute includes peace officer, firefighter and EMT-paramedic training. Campus sports consists of a men's and a women's soccer team - the Trailblazers.
• MCC-Business & Technology is located in Kansas City, Missouri. It was formed in 1995 as the Business & Technology Center when MCC centralized its business services and technical training into one facility. The center expanded and became a full-fledged campus in 2002; it is now the largest campus in the MCC network by square footage. Certificate and degree programs are offered in computer networking, engineering technology, drafting & design technology, environmental health & safety, precision machining, welding technology, industrial technologies and heating, cooling & refrigeration. The electric utility line technician program, which began in 2007, is the only training program of its kind in the region. In fall 2010, almost 1,000 students attended classes at this location.
• MCC-Longview is located in Lee's Summit, Missouri. It opened in 1969. In 2001, Longview was selected as a TIME magazine/The Princeton Review "College of the Year"; it received the award in recognition of its Writing Across the Curriculum program.^[2] Frank White is the school's most notable alumnus. Its baseball team won the 2007 NJCAA Division II Baseball Championship.^[3] By 2016 the campus was serving nearly 3,000 students.
• MCC-Maple Woods was founded in 1969. Located in northern Kansas City, the campus is known for its liberal arts offerings and its veterinary technology program. This northernmost MCC campus serves around 5,400 students every year. In 2007, the school mascot was changed from the Centaurs to the Monarchs, in recognition of the Kansas City Negro League baseball team of the same name. Maple Woods sports teams include men's baseball, woman's softball and both men and women's soccer teams. Albert Pujols played baseball for Maple Woods before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999.
• MCC-Penn Valley, in Penn Valley Park, was founded in 1969. Located in midtown Kansas City, the campus features general education courses as well as many health career programs. The campus is also home to the Francis Child Development Institute and the Carter Arts Center. Around 6,000 students attend Penn Valley every fall. Its basketball team, the Scouts, won the 1996 NJCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship and was runner up in 1997 and 2002. In 1991, Penn Valley hosted the seventh Science Olympiad National Tournament, which was won by Grandville Junior High School from Michigan and La Jolla High School from California.

Programs

• MCC Institute for Workforce Innovation - Since 1985, MCC has worked with local companies to provide training, recruitment, evaluations and other professional services, contracting with employers such as Harley-Davidson, Honeywell, Ford, GM, Folgers, and Smith Electric Vehicles. Services expanded to include database management, quality control, assessment, human resource services and contract training, including OSHA and safety management. In 2009, MCC combined its workforce development efforts with economic development, resource development, and community development to create the MCC Institute for Workforce Innovation (IWI). IWI also targets incumbent and displaced workers and disadvantaged populations such as minorities and rural residents, providing short-term career training, job placement, counseling and basic skills development for over 4,000 students a year. Currently, IWI contracts with over 80 companies in the region, and for two years in a row, has been ranked in the Kansas City Business Journal's Top 25 Area Consulting Firms.

Notable alumni

• David F. Duncan drug policy advisor to President Bill Clinton; professor at Brown University
• Clay Johnson, basketball player
• Ewing Marion Kauffman, founder of Marion Laboratories, original owner of the Kansas City Royals, and philanthropist
• Brent Lasater, Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives
• Logan Morrison, baseball player
• Kaleb Murray, model and public figure
• Albert Pujols, baseball player
• Casey Stengel, baseball player and manager
• Frank White, baseball player and coach
• Brian C. Wimes, federal judge

References

External links

• Metropolitan Community College