AACC President Dawn Lindsay’s New Year’s resolutions include taking up yoga and ballroom dancing.
On campus, Lindsay’s resolutions include several major efforts.

Among them:
Applied bachelor’s degree. AACC has proposed to offer its first applied bachelor’s degree. The degree, which the state must approve, will be in interior design, and will be the first at a community college in Maryland.

“It’s not a guarantee, it’s a step in the direction,” Lindsay said. “All the community colleges in Maryland are looking at this opportunity through the state. … It fills an unmet need where the current four-year [Maryland] colleges aren’t offering bachelor’s degrees in these high-skilled areas.”

Fields of interest. Starting in the fall, students who aren’t sure which field of study they want to pursue at AACC can take a set of courses related to an area they are considering—in sciences or visual arts, for example—before committing to a specific major.

“A student doesn’t necessarily have to know exactly what they want to do,” Lindsay said.

Completion gap. In addition to focusing on recruiting students to the college, Lindsay and the administrative team have turned their attention to retention and to helping students complete their studies here.

Lindsay said the college is studying data to determine the completion rates for students of all races. That information, she said, will help officials decide which programs they need to build to engage those students.

Beyond Arnold. Lindsay said the college is looking to offer students who attend AACC’s remote campuses the ability to complete their associate’s degrees at the Glen Burnie Town Center and Arundel Mills campuses.

“What we also want to make sure is that we have everybody working toward the same goal of completion and that opportunities are in place,” Lindsay said