Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is one of eight universities and colleges in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). TMCC takes pride in being an integral part of the community, developing programs that meet the needs of local and regional businesses and students, fostering students’ growth, meeting the crisis in healthcare, and providing access to a growing number of minority and traditionally underrepresented students in higher education. The college, its faculty, staff, and administration has been honored locally, regionally, and nationally with many awards of excellence.
Nestled in the Truckee Meadows surrounded by the Sierra and Virginia mountain ranges, the college’s main Dandini Campus was built in 1975. In addition, the college has established four education centers: one specializing in applied industrial technology; one dedicated to workforce development and continuing education; another devoted to performing arts; and one unique joint campus with the University of Nevada, Reno.
The college serves primarily the residents of Washoe County, Nevada and the cities of Reno and Sparks. Ranked 38th of the 50 fastest growing community colleges with enrollments over 10,000, TMCC is a comprehensive community college enrolling over 13,000 students in state-sponsored programs and another 10,000 students annually in workforce development and continuing education. In addition to its strong transfer degree option, TMCC offers more than 60 associate degree programs.
The TMCC education program prepares pre-service teachers to begin their work in the field of education. In the education program, there are two tenured faculty members who have doctorate degrees in education and a highly qualified pool of part time instructors who have at minimum a master’s degree and are working in the field or are pursuing a Ph.D. or Ed.D. The faculty has a tremendous enthusiasm for the teaching profession.
Due to changes of standards and changes in Nevada’s baccalaureate programs, the program recently updated its curriculum. The education program initiated meetings with the four-year institutions to inform colleagues of this curriculum revision. Based on the work, this fall TMCC began offering three new emphases: elementary education, integrated special education and elementary education, and secondary education. These new offerings ensure that students have a sound general education background and are prepared to apply to a baccalaureate program. In making the revisions, TMCC reviewed the connections between the program course offerings and the INTASC standards and is revising the assessment practices in each of the courses. In addition to working closely with other institutions of higher education within the state, our program has also developed a strong relationship with our local school district. We work closely with the district to provide a field placement experience that will help students make a firm decision about their career path.
Students in our program start a professional portfolio addressing five domains of competence as established by national standards, synthesize Nevada state educational standards, and gain multicultural education training. We are pleased to report that our students have close to a 100% acceptance rate to baccalaureate programs in education at state of Nevada institutions.
Contact information: Armida Fruzzetti, Ph.D., 775.673.7135 or afruzzetti@tmcc.edu
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