Pirate Pride Grows at MJC

Modesto Junior College was named as one of the nation’s top 150 community colleges to be eligible for the biennial $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The Aspen Prize is the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges!

MJC has been awarded a five-year, Title V grant in the amount of $2,622,764. The Removing Barriers for High Need Students project will focus on three major activities: 1) Removing academic barriers to shorten time to graduation and transfer; 2) Removing procedural barriers by coordinating support services and staff training for superior customer service; and 3) Removing physical barriers through one stop Student Support Centers with online, telephone, and face to face student support.

A new Manufacturing Academy has been formed through a partnership between MJC and the Stanislaus Alliance Worknet in response to the need for skilled workers in the local industry. For 6 months, 15 students will study Electrical, Mechanics, Machining, Welding, Pneumatics and Hydraulics while earning 24 units, completing a college certificate, and receiving career job placement services.

Computer Graphics Prof. Joel Hagen and Anthropology Prof. Dr. Debra Bolter are working with an interdisciplinary group of students to “print” bones from the Homo Naledi discovery in South Africa (See October edition of National Geographic). The British Museum of Natural History and MJC are the only places that are taking 3-D images of the skeletal remains and translating them into 3-D prints, so that in the Anthropology lab, the students may study the bones.

The Modesto Junior College Speech and Debate Team capped off their regular competitive season by earning the regional title for the second year in a row at the Northern California Forensics Association (NCFA) Spring Championship. The tournament was held February 19-21 on the team’s home turf at MJC.