We have been lately requested to mirror on what excites us concerning the group faculty panorama in 2026. As we shake off our vacation hangover and return to the workplace in January, it’s the excellent time to consider what’s coming subsequent. We’ve got seen lots about adapting to the altering panorama and that greater ed is at a pivotal time, nevertheless it has felt that approach since a minimum of 2020. So what makes this 12 months totally different?
We’ve got to confess that there’s something concerning the new 12 months that brings a re-energizing spark to the work that we do in greater schooling (particularly as a result of when you’re studying this, we assume you haven’t gained the Christmas Eve Powerball drawing). In occupied with the 12 months forward, we first mirrored on what we love about working at group schools typically. On the prime of that record have been:
- Seeing college students succeed.
- Working with college students from all kinds of backgrounds.
- Making a constructive long-term impression on households.
- Strengthening the native workforce.
- Contributing to the group the place we dwell and work.
From there, we thought concerning the shifts happening in greater schooling, notably on the group faculty degree. There are altering expectations of group schools, particularly how they combine with business and put together college students for all times after commencement. The tempo of change is accelerating, and the way forward for group faculty is thrilling. Listed here are some issues that we discover related within the Maine Group Faculty System, the place we work, given present occasions:
- Workforce Pell.
- Apprenticeships and internships.
- Free faculty initiatives.
- Advances in AI and expertise.
- Concentrate on pupil psychological well being.
- Re-evaluation of what a protected campus means.
These modifications usually are not merely high-arching themes, they’re already starting to form the day-to-day experiences of scholars and workers. There’s a lot to be enthusiastic about so it was arduous to slim a spotlight to only one space. Drawing from our totally different areas of labor on campus and our distinctive views, here’s a have a look at what every of us is most excited for within the upcoming 12 months:
Constructing Relationships with Business for Workforce Alignment
Tracey’s perspective: I lately spoke with my former officemate who has taught college students from highschool, to workforce, to school for 50 years. After I requested him what he thought has modified essentially the most since he first began educating, he instructed me, “college students usually are not as ready as they was,” after which blamed telephones. He then began to debate that curriculum is designed by folks with levels however no sensible expertise as one other downside he sees extra right this moment in comparison with when he first began educating.
Wasn’t I excited to inform him I had a gathering with an area enterprise that afternoon to speak about how we may collaborate on considered one of our commerce applications! Whereas I’m not enthusiastic about “much less ready college students” in 2026 (that is a subject for one more article), I’m very excited concerning the prospect of strengthening relationships with business to create and develop applications that meet present and future workforce wants. Apprenticeships and internships appear to be getting extra constructive consideration, particularly as we start to position extra worth on the trades.
Much more thrilling, companies appear to be recognizing the position group schools can play in making ready college students for careers. Our native business companions are additionally starting to supply monetary assist for the creation of those applications. Excessive start-up prices can generally be prohibitive for a small rural faculty, however on the identical time, we have to discover methods to serve our group in addition to put together college students with the talents and instruments wanted for jobs in our space. My new 12 months’s decision for 2026 is to create extra public/non-public relationships to assist business and residents for a extra affluent future.
Serving The Entire Scholar (and Worker)
Jennifer’s perspective: The coed expertise has at all times been on the core of my ardour working in greater schooling, and over the previous few years, our pupil physique has modified drastically. Extra traditional-aged college students have been selecting group schools inside our state, and we’re seeing a wholesome steadiness between conventional and grownup learners. It acquired me occupied with what the 2026 pupil may appear to be and the way we is perhaps modern in assembly their wants.
Psychological well being continues to be on the forefront, and the necessity to create wrap-around companies for college kids stays crucial. With the ability to correctly assist college students means wanting on the complete pupil and growing a holistic plan on how we handle these wants. There is a chance for us to try our present psychological well being companies, consider how we’re addressing the fundamental wants of our college students, and reexamine our present companies and decide how we are able to collaborate to make sure that our practices are serving the entire pupil.
As somebody who has additionally simply shifted into human sources, and whose core ardour continues to be rooted in pupil success, I am equally as enthusiastic about discovering new methods to assist our folks as they work to present college students essentially the most constructive expertise they’ll. With all of the transitions, modifications, and upheaval, it can be crucial for us to maintain these round us; those that share the eagerness about serving to college students achieve success. I am wanting ahead to extra candid conversations about work-life steadiness, well-being, and private {and professional} growth. It is vital to keep in mind that the work that we’re doing can change the trajectory of not solely our college students however their households as properly. My new 12 months’s decision for 2026 is to pursue the addition of our system to Maine’s Greatest Locations to Work record.
Cheers to 2026
The brand new 12 months will proceed to deliver thrilling modifications and alternatives for group schools. We’re lucky to work in a occupation that permits us to make such a major impression on folks’s lives, and one of many ways in which we are able to do that’s through the use of modern approaches to fulfill the modifications we expertise. We encourage you to consider your personal work and what excites you concerning the group faculty panorama this new 12 months. Extra particularly, take into consideration how one can incorporate innovation and collaboration into your personal work as you look to construct stronger partnerships, assist the entire pupil, and enhance your coworkers’ experiences.
Cheers to 2026 and all of the superb issues this 12 months holds for us!
