usnccollege

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USNCC Pilot Program Set to Launch in January 2021 By USNCC Public Affairs

 The newly established, United States Naval Community College is launching a pilot program this month, with nearly 600 students from the Navy, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard participating in the Phase I program serving as a template for future USNCC students.

Northern Virginia Community College, part of the Virginia Community College System, the University of Arizona, the University of Maryland Global Campus, Alexandria Technical and Community College (MN), and the State University System of New York (SUNY Online), are paired to offer world class education to Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsman as part of the pilot program scheduled for January through June of 2021.  

“We are in an era of great power competition.  Any advantage we can achieve over an adversary will increase our warfighting prowess,” said Secretary of the Navy

Kenneth J. Braithwaite. “Innovating solutions through improvement of critical thinking skills will only serve to give our leaders more flexibility in the effective and efficient deployment of our naval forces.”

Collaborating schools were notified in November of their selection to support the institution serving the tri-service maritime community. Following the initial pilot program, a phase two pilot program is scheduled for 2022.

“We are very excited to make this announcement,” said Dr. Randi Cosentino, President of the USNCC, “working with top colleges and universities, to bring to the members of our maritime service community, programs that are going to be of high value to them and help them achieve their educational goals.”  

The concept of the US Naval Community College, came out of a study seeking to identify opportunities to better prepare enlisted service members for the future and support them throughout their careers.  Areas of study during the pilot include the nuclear field, cyber security, data analytics, English, math, and naval ethics.  The Phase II portion of the pilot will expand those study areas.

“Now that we’ve identified our collaborating schools we can move forward with our program to ensure we offer the best education to our service members and benefit all those involved,” Cosentino said.  “The pilot will allow us to collect important data that will inform the development of the USNCC.  Working in consortium with leading colleges will help us explore outcomes around the design of the program, the processes involved, working relationships and overall impact.”

“It is imperative we have a more educated enlisted force, grounded in the understanding of current events, allowing them to add context to the actions they may be ordered to do,” said Braithwaite.  “This will provide a critical advantage in any scenario, but specifically to the understanding of how they fit into our overall strategic goals and objectives.”

The USNCC is intended to serve all three services in the maritime domain, the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard.  Each of the services selected students to participate in the January pilot based on input from their chain of command.  For many service members, the prospect of obtaining higher education is a major enlistment or retention incentive.

“We have so much to be proud of throughout our military history and anything we can do to draw more attention to that through education has my enthusiastic support.  There are many lessons there to be learned and I have no doubt a better understanding of our origins will only contribute to the future successes of our Maritime services in any situation.”

Braithwaite was sworn in as the 77th Secretary of the Navy May 29, 2020. He previously served as the 31st U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway.

For more information visit the USNCC on Facebook, LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter at @USNCC.

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U. S. Naval Community College Announces Collaborating Schools

By USNCC Public Affairs

The United States Naval Community College recently announced collaborations with key educational institutions in preparation for the kickoff of the Phase I pilot program in January of 2021.  

The announcements come as the first class of nearly 600 students is notified of their selection to participate in the pilot program, and the schools participating in the USNCC initiative are notified of their selection for the program.  

Northern Virginia Community College,  part of the Virginia Community College System, the University of Arizona, the University of Maryland Global Campus, Alexandria Technical and Community College (MN), and the State University System of New York (SUNY Online), are paired to offer world class education to Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsman as part of the pilot program scheduled for January through June of 2021.  

“We are very excited to make this announcement,” said Dr. Randi Cosentino, President of the USNCC, “working with top colleges and universities to bring to the members of our maritime service community programs that are going to be of high value to them and help them achieve their educational goals.”   

The schools were notified, after being narrowed down through a selection process over the past few months. 

“Now that we’ve identified our collaborating schools we can move forward with our program to ensure we offer the best education to our service members and benefit all those involved,” Cosentino said.  “The pilot will allow us to collect important data that will inform the development of the USNCC.  Working in consortium with leading colleges will help us explore outcomes around the design of the program, the processes involved, working relationships and overall impact.”  

 The concept of the US Naval Community College or USNCC, came out of a study seeking to identify opportunities to better prepare enlisted service members and to support them throughout their career. Naval leadership directed the USNCC to begin pilot programs to identify the best way to help enlisted naval service members access naval-relevant education opportunities that will make them better warfighters, improve operational readiness and support lifelong learning. 

For more information visit the USNCC on Facebook, LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter at @USNCC.

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About the United States Naval Community College

By Dr. Randi Cosentino, President, USNCC

The mission of the Department of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of deterring war, countering aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas. It is a formidable goal. Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen have an incredibly important responsibility to keep our nation safe, while being prepared to dominate the battlespace in conflict. Training, preparation, and hard work is unceasing and substantial.

 In order to further the mission of having the best prepared and most effective maritime fightingforce in the world, the Department of the Navy, in cooperation with the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard, has decided to pilot and develop a community college specifically supporting naval education for enlisted service members.  Recently, when asked about the value of education, VADM Lisa Franchetti, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development (N7) explained that “Going forward, any edge gained in the competitive battle space, either militarily or intellectually, increases our warfighting advantage.  An enlisted force that can innovate and outthink the adversary provides leadership with more options and enhances the inherent flexibility of our naval forces.”

 The concept of the US Naval Community College or USNCC, came out of a study seeking to identify opportunities to better prepare our exceptional enlisted service members and to support them throughout their career. Naval leadership directed the USNCC to begin pilot programs to identify the best way to help our enlisted naval service members to access naval-relevant education opportunities that will both make them better warfighters, and support lifelong learning.

 Pilots/Getting Started

The USNCC is working closely with leaders across the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard to test and identify the best approach to helping our service members access and succeed at college, while balancing their military duties . The initial pilot program (Pilot I) takes place starting this January with close to 600 enlisted service members participating in a series of online courses, at several civilian colleges, in areas that include nuclear, cyber, data analytics, english, math, and naval ethics. The USNCC will be leveraging this first pilot to get feedback from our service members, and to answer questions such as the best delivery method, length of courses, student support, enrollment processes, partner characteristics, and student satisfaction.

 We will then turn our attention to a second pilot scheduled to commence in 2022, with classes beginning in the Summer/Fall of 2022. During that phase, we plan to enroll as many as 5000 students into targeted associate’s degree programs with several of our partner colleges and universities. The feedback from this pilot will help us finalize our approach, student support, partnerships, and delivery mechanisms to make sure we can achieve our mission, prior to growing the USNCC to serve many more enlisted service members.

Over the subsequent years, we anticipate growing both in the number of students we serve, as well as in the degree programs we plan to offer. We also will pursue accreditation giving the USNCC the ability to directly award credit and offer degrees and certificates to our students.

 What makes the USNCC unique?

I am often asked, what is unique about the USNCC, and why is it different from the tuition assistance program our enlisted service members may access. Why is it important for the Department of the Navy to develop the USNCC and what will make it valuable? In answer to these questions, I point to a number of facets of the USNCC that make up our delivery model and approach.

 ● Naval-relevant degree programs - The USNCC envisions offering 14-15 different associate of science (AS) pathways that are relevant to our Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen - regardless of their rating or MOS - and cover both technical fields (e.g.nuclear, engineering, cyber) and generalist programs (e.g. organizational leadership, military history). These programs help ensure that a service member improves on their responsibilities today, while building their capacity to take on challenges of tomorrow.

 ● Naval Core - The program is centered around a Naval/Maritime Core that includes coursework providing all participants a similar grounding within the Naval Services, and is based in part on the USNA and NROTC programs future officers receive. It will support ethical leadership development, and provide an understanding of Naval History, Geopolitics, Civil/Military context, and force structure and organization. This Naval Core, plus classes in English and Math and other sciences, will provide a strong educational foundation for all enlisted service members.

 ● Stackable Certificates - While the ultimate goal will be an Associate of Science (AS) degree, students have an opportunity to get recognition and be awarded certificates in pursuit of that goal. The students can earn a Naval Core Certificate, and a Professional Certificate - which will be made up of the ‘major’ (or concentration) classwork for their given pathway (e.g. nuclear fields, organizational leadership, etc…)

 ● Online, flexible delivery - The coursework will be delivered online, asynchronously allowing Sailors to use their own time, ashore and at sea. The courses, pending feedback from the pilot, will likely be shorter (e.g. 6-8 weeks) to accommodate our service member’s schedules. Because the courses are delivered online, there is no requirement for time away from one’s duties.

 ● High Quality Academic Partners and Consortium - While the USNCC anticipates directly delivering Naval Core courses, among others, we also believe in partnering with the best institutions to deliver the education in a partnership model. We are partnering with a select group of the best colleges and universities for working adults, who are experts in the particular concentration or professional area.

 ● Military Friendly - The partner colleges are exceptional at providing high quality education to our enlisted service members, with a track record of positive results for the military, and policies that recognize the challenges of military service.

● Connection to Lifelong Learning - We will ensure, both as an institution, and as a consortium, we connect the service member to lifelong learning. We will work to maximize all appropriate transfer credit for our service members, based on their military training and responsibilities, prior credit, and ACE review. Moreover, we will build or access four year transfer pathways that will let the students seamlessly transfer their AS degrees into bachelor’s degrees with little to no loss of credit.

 ● Connection to Lifelong Learning, Part II - Finally, as these funded programs have the potential to allow service members to access associate level education at no cost, we are able to help our service members achieve certificates and degrees without incurring debt. In doing so, we are not only furthering operational readiness, but will ultimately support the growth of tens of thousands of individuals in achieving their academic goals.

On a personal level, the opportunity to join the Department of the Navy in developing its first-ever community college, to serve enlisted Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen is an honor and a privilege. As we begin this endeavor providing greater access to naval-relevant college-level education for our enlisted service members, I reflect on General John A. LeJeune’s mission on developing young Marines (1920) where he imparts it is a responsibility of the military to not only build strong warfighters, but to return those service members to society as better citizens than when they began. It is my sincere hope the USNCC can play a small role in advancing that mission.

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The United States Naval Community College A Pathway to the Future

By USNCC Public Affairs 

Many young Sailors join the Navy with the hopes of making a better place for themselves in the world.  Today, very few employers offer the vast array of opportunities to a recent high school graduate like a career in the U.S. military.  Within a year of graduating from high school, a student with an interest in car engines might be overhauling complex and versatile work trucks with the Marines, or doing maintenance on a state of the art aircraft engine, hundreds of miles away from shore.  This comes at great cost to the Navy and no lack of effort on the part of a Sailor.  Training pipelines vary, but it generally follows a similar path; recruit basic training, affectionately referred to as boot camp, followed by an “A” school, perhaps some more technical training and before they know it, Sailors, Marines and “Coasties” are on the deck plates in the fleet, working in a job they’ve been trained for and mastered to a level they are trusted to perform daily. 

Now, imagine putting all of that relevant training to work towards an academic goal recognized by civilian colleges and suitable for transferring to the civilian workforce.  Imagine a professional certificate recognizing time spent in Navy classes awarding credit towards an associate’s degree.  Now imagine this does not impact any existing education benefit, and can be stacked along with other credits and certificates to work towards a bachelor’s degree, and perhaps beyond.  Imagine having the option to do all this, or not, within a single enlistment. 

Now, imagine no more, because it’s about to become a reality. 

 In January of 2021 the United States Naval Community College (USNCC) is kicking off a pilot program with approximately 600 students from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard.  These naval students, attending classes and giving feedback to the newly established educational institution, will lay the groundwork for the next step in bringing the education dreams of Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen into reality. 

 The USNCC is still years away from being available to the entire fleet, but that’s not stopping the development of what is described as a system of stackable achievements, completed over time, leading to a degree awarded by the Department of Navy (DoN) and recognized by civilian colleges and universities, according to Dr. Randi Cosentino, the President of the USNCC. 

 “The goal is to have an associates of science degree,” Cosentino explained during a recent interview with the Defense Media Activity.  “The importance of that is that it’s a transferable degree, that's going to prepare that Sailor or Marine, not only to get a very practical degree that’s going to support military and operational readiness, but put them on a path to lifelong learning.”

 Cosentino explained the overall arc of the program is to establish a network of top community colleges and four year universities to develop a curriculum based around a series of Naval centric areas of focus, taking advantage of Sailors’ baseline knowledge and amplifying it with Naval Science courses. 

 “We envision between 14 or 15 concentrations in areas that are relevant to the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, that are going to help you not only be successful as a Sailor, Marine or Coast Guardsmen, not only today in your job, but prepare you for challenges for tomorrow,” she said. 

 Cosentino is an experienced adult education expert with the credentials to establish such a program and give it credibility.  She combines a doctorate of education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Business administration from Harvard with nearly 20 years of experience working to deliver online education for working adults.  The USNCC is envisioned as a fully online institution, supporting the fact that Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen are deployed around the globe, in a non-traditional classroom environment. 

 “I think we have an incredibly unique opportunity here because we’re building it from the bottom up. We can make sure that what we’re building coincides with naval and fleet operations and what's going on in the field,” she said. 

 With her combined experience and the support of Naval leadership, the USNCC is well on its way to establishing a baseline following feedback from the pilot students, and expand operations within the next couple of years.  Once the pilot is complete, the next phase of the initiative begins, expanding from the initial 500-600 students to nearly 5,000, hopefully extending to the entire fleet in the coming years. 

 “We want to stay laser beam focused on making sure we’re delivering high quality associates degree programs designed to improve readiness, operations and support, that service members in ratings and MOS’ may use to prepare them for the future,” she emphasized, noting plans do not stop there.  “As we move forward we envision expansions that may very well include certifications supporting career fields that may allow us to support a bachelors. In the interim, our goal is to put in place articulation agreements, meaning that when you’re graduating from the USNCC or one of our college partners, you have a clear and charted path to transfer to that four year degree with minimal or no-loss of credit.”

 Education is viewed by leadership as vital to gaining an edge in 21st century conflict. 

Cosentino echoes that sentiment in her vision of education for Department of the Navy personnel. 

 “The Navy has incredible enlisted sailors and marines that are making things happen. The training they get and the work they do is critical to success, but as we continue to move to what is becoming a more complex environment in the 21st century, where there are new and emerging technologies, where there are new challenges, where there is the need to communicate in new ways to work with teams, the opportunity that you get from education is unparalleled,” she explained. 

 The nuts and bolts of the program will be worked out with the pilot, but the movement is underway and the enthusiasm behind it is palpable. 

 “One of the most exciting things of getting into that classroom is having that opportunity to have your junior enlisted along with your sergeant major all in the same room and folks can learn from each other. There is an opportunity to bring different experiences, to bring different levels of knowledge to the table and to test your own hypothesis and to push your own learning beyond where it has been,” Cosentino explained.  “You can have folks share their own experiences, they can go right up against the boundaries of their own lived experience and can test what they have learned and what they have experienced and can hopefully push even beyond it.” 

 The Navy has long invested in the physical fitness of Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, but now wants to make a more direct investment in their academic fitness.  By honing the development of the minds of its Sailors the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard hope it will directly contribute to the operational readiness of the Navy for the 21st century and beyond, allowing those pursuing a higher education to take advantage of time well spent in pursuit of Navy professions.