HCC named finalist for prestigious Bellwether Award
Nov 10, 2020
Houston Community College has been named one of 10 community college finalists in the highly coveted Bellwether Awards competition for outstanding and innovative workforce development programs.
Bellwether Awards finalists represent leading community colleges whose outstanding and innovative programs and practices were selected among competitive submissions as exemplary.
The awards are given by the Bellwether College Consortium, a group of colleges charged with addressing the critical issues facing community colleges through applicable research and the promotion and replication of best practices. The Consortium awards recognize best programs in workforce development, instructional programs and services, and planning governance and finance.
The Bellwether Award is sponsored by the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio.
Finalists will undergo a rigorous second and final round of review at the 2021 Community Colleges Futures Assembly in Jan. 2021.
The Bellwether Awards are widely regarded as one of the nation’s most competitive and prestigious recognitions for community colleges.
Annually, the Bellwether College Consortium nominates 30 community colleges finalists from a large group of applicants in the United States and its territories to compete in the three categories of workforce development, instructional programs and services, and planning and governance.
Selected colleges then enter rigorous selection process with two rounds of judging by peers and national experts in the field. The competition culminates with a daylong event of presentations by contenders. Each of 10 community college finalists provide a 60-minute presentation on its program or model to an anonymous panel, recognized as skilled practitioners and thought leaders in the field.
A single winner will be announced at the 27th annual Futures Assembly.
Other community college finalists include Broward College of Florida, the Pima Community College Health Professions Opportunity Grant of Arizona, Rogue Community College of Oregon, Oxnard College of California, San Jacinto College of Texas, Polk State College of Florida, South Mountain Community College of Arizona, Pima Community College's USAF Paramedic program, and Holyoke Community College of Massachusetts.