News Bureau
Harper College, Motorola Solutions Partnership Earns National Recognition
Scholarships, corporate support for community colleges could be national model
Harper College's 25-year partnership with Motorola Solutions is the winner of a first-time national award recognizing outstanding college-corporate collaboration.
The Award of Excellence for Corporate/College Partnership, established last year by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), was formally awarded to Harper during the association’s annual convention in California.
Harper’s partnership with Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions includes scholarships for traditional and adult students; monetary awards for distinguished faculty; grant funding for and employee engagement in a Harper summer bridge program for at-risk students; and customized training for Motorola Solutions professionals.
“It is vital that community college leaders build relationships with their local CEOs,” said Harper College President Dr. Kenneth Ender. “We’re very proud of our long-term relationship with Motorola Solutions. Their support has provided students and the College with opportunities that we otherwise might not have been able to support. But just as important, their active involvement helps us stay connected to their workforce needs in a fast-changing, global environment.”
The award was developed to share best practices and encourage more partnerships between corporations and community college leaders. AACC leaders say working together is critical as public funding for higher education decreases and corporations look to community colleges to train workers for 21st century jobs.
“American industry has changed dramatically in the last 20 to 30 years, and so have the required skills sets of employees,” said Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown. “Businesses need a pipeline of talented individuals to fill those roles. Partnerships between American businesses and community colleges are key to identifying these needs and together providing unique solutions that help businesses thrive and keep community colleges relevant.”
Harper was named one of five finalists for the award in February, based in part on the partnership’s advancement of economic prosperity, student success and community college advocacy. The AACC represents more than 1,100 community, junior and technical colleges and more than 13 million students.
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Eighteen area high school students will don caps and gowns and cross the stage at Harper College this weekend, picking up a career-boosting college credential before they even complete their senior year. The students are among the 2013 recipients of the Certified Nursing Assistant credential, a potential precursor to healthcare studies that qualifies them for jobs now and offers a jump start on higher education.
Eighteen area high school students will don caps and gowns and cross the stage at Harper College this weekend, picking up a career-boosting college credential before they even complete their senior year.
Myra Chung thought fashion would be the last career she'd pursue after she struggled through her first high school sewing lesson. Now the Harper College fashion student is on her way to designing her own collection
After completing her Harper College associate degree this May, Stephanie Bemis planned to pursue a bachelor's degree in education close to home. Instead, she'll head across the Atlantic for a hands-on yearlong fellowship in Germany.
Eventually, Scott Lietzow wants to go to law school and become a congressman, helping set policies on a state or national level. To get rolling, he's flexing his political muscles as Harper College's new Student Trustee.
Area residents are invited to tee off in the name of student success at the Harper College Educational Foundation's 25th Annual Golf Open, which raises critical funding for scholarships and programming campus-wide.
The calls kept rolling in to Harper College's Small Business Development Center: Entrepreneurs were well aware they needed to jump on the social media bandwagon to boost their business, but had no idea how to start. The answer, a first-time social media boot camp tailored to new and existing Northwest suburban small businesses, will launch in June at Harper's SBDC.
When Harper College's Fashion Design program got its start, bell-bottoms and tie-dye were all the rage. Clothes have come a long way since then - and so has Harper's program. The College's 2013 fashion show, "Déja Vu," will celebrate 45 years of fashion design at Harper, showcasing nearly 100 modern and cutting-edge pieces from two dozen students.
Three years after Harper College's Jill Izumikawa did research in Korea, the College will host Korean educators on its own turf - the second piece of a Fulbright-fueled program focused on encouraging cross-cultural learning.
When Darrell Katz is away from the office, he fires up his iPad, not his laptop, to get work done - even when his to-do list includes faxing or printing documents or typing in pages of data. "It's all possible to do," he says, "and actually quite easy." The Harper College Continuing Education instructor will offer tips for transforming the iPad from a fun gadget to an office staple in a first-ever Harper class this month.
Three years after Harper College's Jill Izumikawa did research in Korea, the College will host Korean educators on its own turf - the second piece of a Fulbright-fueled program focused on encouraging cross-cultural learning.
When Harper College's Fashion Design program got its start, bell-bottoms and tie-dye were all the rage. Clothes have come a long way since then - and so has Harper's program. The College's 2013 fashion show, "Déja Vu," will celebrate 45 years of fashion design at Harper, showcasing nearly 100 modern and cutting-edge pieces from two dozen students.
Seventh- through 12th-graders from across the Northwest suburbs are part of Harper College's Henize Observatory Student Docent Program, a new initiative that trains local middle and high school students to run the telescopes and identify astronomical elements for the hundreds of stargazers who visit the observatory each year.
Harper College will host an Advanced Manufacturing information session on Thursday, May 9 for prospective students.
For a class on the American punk rock movement of the 1970s, Harper College students have been reading portions of a recently published autobiography by Richard Hell, one of the genre's originators. They're saving any questions to ask him firsthand, when the punk rocker - who's secured a significant place in the 20thcentury American underground music and literature scene - visits the class Wednesday, May 1, to discuss his career and his book.
The student actors in Harper College's Theatre Club are used to performing for adult audiences. This time, they're prepping to perform for a much younger crowd - and they're bringing Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang with them.
In her book, Career Coach Terri Lee Ryan defines life after age 40 as one big to-do list. Harper College will offer an escape from that daily grind with a free event aimed at inspiring adults through massages, performances and seminars from a variety of experts - including Ryan herself. The first-ever "Inspire U" runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 4 in the Wojcik Conference Center on Harper's main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine.
Harper College is accepting nominations for its 2013 Distinguished Alumni Awards - annual honors saluting former Harper students for outstanding career and community achievements. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, May 15. Recipients will be lauded at a fall reception; they must also agree to return to campus at least once more within the year to be a guest speaker or participate in an activity designed to engage students.
The Harper College Speech Team finished fourth in the nation at the recent Phi Rho Pi National community college speech and debate tournament, besting dozens of fellow community colleges and boasting two individual champions.
Harper College ceramics students and instructors are showcasing hundreds of original, one-of-a-kind clay pieces this week at the semiannual Clay Guild sale.
