St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners Recognize CSM with Proclamation Honoring Community College Month
St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners Recognize CSM with Proclamation Honoring Community College Month
The St. Mary’s County Government Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) presented the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) with a proclamation during its April 27 weekly public meeting in recognition of April being National Community College Month.
“Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model designed to guarantee access to affordable, higher education for all people, and particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse students,” read Commissioner Mike Hewitt from the proclamation. “As one of the state’s 16 community colleges, the College of Southern Maryland is dedicated to transforming lives through lifelong learning and service and … [CSM] is a primary cog in the economic development engine when it comes to developing our region’s workforce.”
The commissioner continued reading from the proclamation to share kudos for CSM’s efforts to help students identify their career paths as well as connect students with high-demand occupations here in the Southern Maryland region.
“In a post-pandemic environment, the College of Southern Maryland is working on the joint initiative of “Getting Southern Maryland Back to Work” to create a transparent, accessible and coordinated pathway to skills upgrade training and reemployment for individuals who are unemployed or underemployed as a result of the pandemic,” Hewitt said. “Community college month is an opportunity to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges, and to bust longtime stigmas wrongly associated with public two-year colleges.”
CSM Board of Trustees Dr. John W. Roache and Ken Abell joined CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy to accept the accolades and proclamation.
“This proclamation touches our hearts it goes to the heart of who we are and what we do,” Murphy said, before thanking the BOCC for their continuous support. “The road to recovery comes through the College of Southern Maryland. Most of the region’s front-line workers come through us. We are part and parcel of what you represent and we are your partners.”
About CSM:
CSM is recognized as a peer college among the nation’s top 15 percent of community colleges nationwide as a Top 150 Community College in the nation eligible for the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Additionally, CSM is recognized by the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance. The college continues to draw top ratings for providing students with affordable and accessible education while maintaining good teacher-student ratio, transfer rates and outcomes, ranking 3rd best of 16 in the state and 51st of 698 community colleges nationwide.
During this year impacted by COVID-19, CSM was able to award in excess of $9 million in financial assistance to students through a mix of federal and state grants, scholarships and monies raised by the CSM Foundation. On average, students save $29,000 by completing their education at CSM and transferring to a four-year university with a degree.
CSM has more than 125 transfer admission agreements with more than 50 bachelor-degree colleges and universities. In addition, as the sixth largest military- and veteran-serving Maryland college or university, CSM serves 700+ students using VA benefits, including current or former military service members, and is designated as a “Military Friendly School” by Victory Media and a “Top School” in the Military Advanced Education Guide to Colleges and Universities.
Learn more about CSM at www.csmd.edu.