Oct 10, 2024  
2013-2014 Catalog-EXPIRED 
    
2013-2014 Catalog-EXPIRED [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Academic and Student Affairs Vision


Grand Rapids Community College is a college of choice. We are an open-access institution that transforms students through experiences that blend rigor with relationship, safety with risk, independence with support, community with individual, and theory with practice. We are committed to promoting freedom of inquiry through a broad range of programs providing students with both breadth and depth in their learning experiences. We are an integral community partner within the educational system of our region and share responsibility for its effectiveness.

Our overarching goal for learning is:

GRCC students will become successful learners and responsible community members. Our students will have the competencies to be successful in the future they help create. To reach this goal we have set specific objectives in the areas of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student effort, support for learners, and student faculty interaction.

The principles we hold to achieve this vision are:

  • All people can learn given the right conditions and supports.
  • Comprehensive supports are critical for the successful learning process.
  • We improve learning by applying our understanding of the ways that people learn best and then assessing and responding to the results.
  • We shape learning environments with conscious and purposeful intention.
  • Curriculum is active, interactive, and dynamic.
  • We are committed to engaging in and promoting life-long learning.
     
  • School of Arts and Sciences
    • Biological Sciences
    • Education
    • English
    • Language and Thought
    • Mathematics
    • Music
    • Physical Sciences
    • Psychology
    • Social Sciences
    • Visual Arts
    • Wellness
    • Women’s Studies
    • Theater
  • Interdisciplinary Studies
    • Sustainability
  • School of Student Success and Retention 
    • College Learning Studies
  • School of Workforce Development
    • Applied Technology
    • Business
    • Computer Information Systems
    • Criminal Justice
    • Dental Auxiliary
    • Drafting and Design
    • Fashions and Interiors
    • Culinary Education
    • Job Training
    • Manufacturing
    • Nursing
    • Occupational Therapy Assistant
    • Radiologic Technology
    • Training Solutions

Arts and Sciences programs provide students with pre-college and college-level curricula that serve as a foundation for individual empowerment whether this takes the form of self-enrichment, the exercise of civic responsibility, pursuit of a profession, or the attainment of a baccalaureate degree.

Interdisciplinary Studies provides students with courses that integrate several disciplines to explore a topic. The courses in the area focus on connection to community and on experiential learnings.

Student Success and Retention programs support and enrich the student learning experience with academic curricula and supportive services for the whole student. This is accomplished by placing an emphasis on the integration of a student’s personal and academic growth and by fostering an environment for learning that provides a wide variety of in-class and out-ofclass learning opportunities, work and leadership experiences, information, advice and counsel that meet student needs and expectations.

Workforce Development programs provide students with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to succeed in their chosen occupations. Offerings refl ect the needs and desires of students as well as the community’s needs for educated workers.

To these ends Grand Rapids Community College offers courses and programs that:

  • instill a sense of curiosity
  • cultivate the capacity to learn
  • broaden experience and understanding
  • respond to community needs
  • prepare students for specific jobs
  • retrain or improve students in present jobs
  • transfer to four-year institutions
  • transfer into related programs leading to advanced degrees at senior institutions