MDC Annual Report - A Year of Momentum: MDC President Madeline Pumariega / 2022 Annual Report
A YEAR OF MOMENTUM FOR COMMUNITY
2023-02-17 07:42:07
Fostering a Culture of Care
For MDC student Brittney Acosta, volunteering at the Overtown Youth Center proved to be as beneficial for her as it was for the youth. “It’s easy to get caught up in being older and in college, but interacting with these kids, we were met with such youthful curiosity and wonder,” said Acosta, a member of the Hialeah Campus Student Government Association (SGA).
MDC’s Hialeah and Padrón campuses collaborated on collecting school essentials and volunteering at the Overtown center – a service provider for at-risk youth – during its “Super Saturday.” It was all part of FINN Cares, a collegewide annual service project designed to serve the community and spark meaningful change in students’ lives.
To further establish a culture of care that promotes the well-being of all students, MDC has partnered with Mantra Health, a digital health mental clinic, to expand the College’s mental health counseling services and provide an MDC crisis line and 24/7 counseling services. Students may now receive 10 free, hour-long counseling sessions with a licensed professional in person, by phone, or virtually with after-hours and Saturday sessions to accommodate their schedules.
As MDC continues its commitment to serving the veterans in our community, the College commemorated Veterans Day with the inauguration of a new Veterans Center at MDC’s Wolfson Campus, providing a one-stop-shop for active-duty military, veterans and their dependents to socialize, attend workshops and meet with student success coaches and enrollment advisors.
MDC recognizes that our employees play a critical role in advancing a culture of care, excellence and innovation at MDC. Strengthening our pledge to support our worldclass faculty and staff, the College announced salary enhancements totaling 5% over the 2021 and 2022 academic years for all full-time employees.
To ensure we are providing development opportunities for all of our colleagues at MDC, we’ve launched the inaugural President’s Leadership Academy, a program dedicated to recognizing and elevating leaders at MDC. The program, which will begin in September 2022, is uniquely designed to enhance leadership skills and opportunities.
To accelerate student success in our community through a culture of care, MDC raised more than $1.4 million during its sixth annual I AM MDC Day on Sept. 6. The event celebrates MDC’s tradition of changing lives through education and opportunity, and raises critical funds for scholarships and programs for students.
A Leader in Arts and Culture
MDC is enriching the cultural life of the community through a variety of engaging programming.
The Wolfson Campus came alive once again with the 2021 Miami Book Fair. Thousands converged on Downtown Miami to attend the nation’s premier literary festival. The fair’s 38th edition was celebrated in a hybrid format for the first time and brought together more than 100 authors from all over the world. The annual eight-day festival has grown into the largest and most comprehensive community-rooted literary gathering in the United States, generating discourse on contemporary literature and current issues of international importance. The 2022 Miami Book Fair promises more exciting booking readings and related programs.
On the film front, the Miami Film Festival returned with 10 days of world-class films. The 2022 Festival celebrated more than 120 feature narratives, documentaries and short films across all genres, from more than 35 countries.
Preserving a Beacon of Freedom
Miami Dade College’s National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower stands even stronger as a symbol of democracy.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation to provide a $25 million grant that supports renovations and restoration of the historic Freedom Tower. Joined by the Governor, President Pumariega said, “Your investment here ensures that there will be someone standing here in the next hundred years, ensuring that the story of my parents, of our parents, and our grandparents, are told over and over again. We will continue to preserve the legacy of those that we know, and those that we don’t know.” The funds provided will help complete urgent structural repairs, make the building more accessible, install climate control and security systems, and redesign museum exhibits displayed there.
During Florida’s legislative session, funding also was earmarked for expansion of MDC’s Nursing and Mechatronics programs, and to support the School of Justice.
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