Colorado Mountain College (CMC) is a network of eleven community college campuses in western Colorado that grant associate degrees and, as of Fall 2012, grant 2 bachelor's degrees.
CMC also offers numerous courses transmitted across the district via live interactive video, allowing students at one location to hear and speak with their teachers at other college sites. CMC offers many of the same introductory courses in arts and sciences found at most four-year colleges, as well as strong career and technical programs that prepare students for a variety of careers in the outdoor and resort fields. Numerous professional certifications and custom workforce training are also offered.
Other heavily enrolled programs include sustainability studies; ski business, which incorporates ski tuning, boot fitting, retail shop management, product development and marketing of outdoor recreational equipment; ski area operations, which offers hands-on courses in slope maintenance and grooming, and ski lift maintenance and operations; culinary arts, which offers an apprenticeship program at AAA Four Diamond Award winning resorts; veterinary technology; and nursing. Courses in hotel and resort management are also offered, and graduates of these courses help to sustain the winter, and summer, tourism driven economies of Colorado.
In addition to providing many different recreational and educational activities through student clubs, honor societies, and the rugged snow-sport focused terrain of the Colorado Western Slope, the Colorado Mountain College Ski Team at Steamboat Springs campus is an associate member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. RMISA is composed of Division I Universities/Colleges in the West and is the strongest college ski racing conference in the country.
Campuses
Colorado Mountain College has 11 locations:
- Aspen, Colorado
- Breckenridge, Colorado
- Glenwood Springs
- Glenwood Springs-Spring Valley
- Carbondale, Colorado
- Steamboat Springs, Colorado
- Rifle, Colorado
- Buena Vista, Colorado
- Leadville, Colorado
- Dillon, Colorado
- Edwards, Colorado serving the Vail-Eagle Valley
Of these locations, the college's three campuses in Steamboat Springs, Leadville and Glenwood Springs-Spring Valley are residential and operated on a small college model.
Rankings
In 2012, CNNMoney.com ranked Colorado Mountain College in the top 20 nationally for student success at two-year colleges. According to the report the college is also ranked #1 among Colorado’s two-year colleges for graduation plus transfer rates. CollegeMeasures.org ranks CMC #17 in the nation for graduation plus transfer rates for schools with more than 200 full-time freshmen. This reporting tool is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Offerings
Associate degrees
As a community college, Colorado Mountain College offers many associate degree program options.
Bachelor degrees
Following approval from CMC's elected board of trustees, the Colorado Legislature, Bill Ritter and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, on April 18, 2011, the Higher Learning Commission approved Colorado Mountain College to begin offering 2 Bachelor degrees. In Fall 2012, CMC began a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sustainability Studies. These degrees are offered at all 11 locations.
Isaacson School for New Media
In Fall 2012, CMC opened one of the nation's first community college programs dedicated to new media, named the Isaacson School for New Media with classes at the college's locations in Aspen, Colorado, Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs. The school teaches courses in digital media, digital journalism, digital marketing and design. Named in honor of Walter Isaacson, writer, biographer and president of the Aspen Institute. The school provides professional training as well as degrees and certificates.
Photography
The Spring Valley Campus, just outside of Glenwood Springs, Colorado offers an AAS (Associate of Applied Science) degree in Professional Photography. Faculty includes program director Derek Johnston, assistant professor Joseph Gamble and adjunct professor Klaus Kocher. They teach small classes of photography students a variety of skills ranging from basic exposure to advanced Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom editing, and now visual storytelling using video and other media.
The Spring Valley Campus offers multiple computer labs, including Mac labs outfitted with regularly updated Apple desktops and large format Canon and Epson printers. The program also utilizes a photography studio which is attached to the photo labs and includes multiple lighting kits and backdrops. The program offers a strong foundation in technical skills but also encourages creative work with electives and field trips to places such as Yellowstone and the U.S. Southwest. The Professional Photography degree program is part of the Isaacson School for New Media.
Notable graduates of the CMC photography program include Pat Davison, who was part of a team that was awarded the Pullitzer Prize in 2000.
External links
- Official website
- Academic catalog
- CMC News
- CMC Professional Photography program
References
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