Maple Woods Community College: A Comprehensive Overview
Metropolitan Community College (MCC) is a public community college system serving the state of Missouri. The system consists of four physical campuses in Kansas City, Independence, and Lee's Summit, as well as the MCC-Online campus. MCC is the oldest public college in Kansas City, Missouri, and the first community college established in the state of Missouri.
History and Establishment
Founded in 1915 as Kansas City Polytechnic Institute, with its campus at 11th and Locust streets, it initially offering a junior college program, a teacher training school, a high school, a mechanic arts school, a trade school, and a business training school. As a junior college, it was one of the first institutions in the country to issue two-year associate degrees, and it was the third school in the country to be accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, in 1918. In 1964 the suburban school districts of Belton, Center, Grandview, Hickman Mills, Lee's Summit, North Kansas City, and Raytown joined the Kansas City district to form the Metropolitan Community College District. A Board of Trustees was publicly elected to take over fiduciary responsibility for the college from the Kansas City School District. Patrons of the Blue Springs, Park Hill, Independence, and Fort Osage school districts voted to join the college district in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2021, three more school districts voted to "attach" to the MCC district: Grain Valley, Liberty, and Oak Grove. The Longview, Maple Woods, and Penn Valley campuses opened for the 1969-70 academic year, although campus construction would continue for years afterward. Some Maple Woods classes, for instance, met in a church that first year. The Blue River campus in eastern Jackson County opened in 1997, and the Business & Technology campus near Interstate 435 and Front Street opened in 2002.
Campuses
The Metropolitan Community College system comprises several campuses, each with its own unique focus and programs:
- MCC-Blue River: Located in Independence, Missouri, the campus opened in 1997. As of Fall 2022, the campus serves about 2,000 students per semester. In addition to a host of general education programs, MCC-Blue River is home to a well-regarded cybersecurity program. The Metropolitan Chorale of Kansas City is based at Blue River. Each spring, families descend on the campus for the annual All for the Children healthy families resource fair, which includes a massive candy egg hunt. The campus' Public Safety Institute trains peace officers, firefighters, and EMT-paramedics.
- MCC-Longview: Located in Lee's Summit, Missouri. It opened in 1969. In 2001, Longview was selected as a TIME magazine/The Princeton Review "College of the Year" in recognition of its Writing Across the Curriculum program. Jackson County (Missouri) Executive and former Kansas City Royals great Frank White is a notable campus alumnus. In the fall of 2022, the campus served about 3,250 students. The campus includes a nationally known automotive technology program and the MCC-Longview Cultural Arts Center. Each spring since 2006, Longview invites the community to take part in its popular Flights of Fancy Mega Kite Festival.
- MCC-Maple Woods: Founded in 1969 and located in Kansas City's Northland, the campus is known for its veterinary technology, geographic information systems and foreign language interpreting programs. A new building, the Agriculture Annex, was slated to break ground in April 2024, with completion by end of the year. This northernmost MCC campus served about 3,770 students in Fall 2022. MCC Wolves sports teams based at Maple Woods are baseball and softball. Albert Pujols played baseball for Maple Woods (when its sports teams were known as the Monarchs) before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999.
- MCC-Penn Valley: Located in midtown Kansas City near Penn Valley Park, the campus was founded in 1969. It is known for its Health Science Institute at 3444 Broadway, home to nursing and allied health programs and the Virtual Hospital; the English as a Second Language program; and the new Advanced Technical Skills Institute at 2944 Troost Ave. The campus is also home to the Francis Child Development Institute and the Carter Art Center. About 3,500 students were enrolled at Penn Valley in Fall 2022. Each September, MCC-Penn Valley welcomes the community to its free Jazz in the Valley festival. Penn Valley is home base for MCC's men's and women's basketball programs. The men's basketball team, then known as the Scouts, won the 1996 NJCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship and was runner-up in 1997 and 2002.
General Information
The campuses had a total enrollment of 13,376 for the fall semester of 2023. The college's athletic teams are known as the Wolves.
- Endowment: $6.52 million (2023)
- Budget: $123.1 million (2023-24)
- Chancellor: Dr. Kimberly Beatty
- Vice-Chancellor: Dr. John M.
Academic and Career Pathways
With more than 120 degrees and certificates grouped into eight Academic and Career Pathways, the path to your future begins at MCC.
Read also: Discover Maple Woods History
- Anthropology (A.A.)
- Art (A.A.)
- Biology (A.A.)
- Biology (A.S.)
- Business (A.A.)
- Chemistry (A.A.)
- Chemistry (A.S.)
- Economics (A.A.)
- Foreign Language (A.A.)
- Geography (A.A.)
- Geology (A.A.)
- History (A.A.)
- Mass Communications (A.A.)
- Mathematics (A.A.)
- Music (A.A.)
- Philosophy (A.A.)
- Physical Education (A.A.)
- Physics (A.A.)
- Political Science (A.A.)
- Psychology (A.A.)
- Social Work (A.A.)
- Sociology (A.A.)
- Speech and Theater (A.A.)
We provide personalized student success advising to help you choose a path, stay on the path and graduate directly after graduation or transfer to a four-year university to continue your studies.
Health Career Options
Accountants help ensure that a hospital runs efficiently and its financial records are kept accurately. Accountants analyze and communicate financial information. They prepare, analyze and verify financial documents to provide information to hospital administrators. Chief executive officers direct the hospital or health system and develop plans and policies to lead the organization. Executive secretaries provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing reports or handling requests for information. They also prepare correspondence, reeve visitors, arrange conference calls and schedule meetings. General and operations managers plan, direct or coordinate the operations of an organization. They develop policies, manage operations and plan the use of material and human resources. They review financial statements and reports and may oversee staffing. Health care marketing managers work in the public relations, communications or policy creation departments of hospitals, health care organizations, biotech companies and federal health agencies. A hospital billing clerk is a hospital office employee responsible for coding and entering medical records, communicating with insurance companies and billing patients. Medical secretaries perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Medical and health services managers plan, direct or coordinate medical and health services in hospitals, clinics, managed care organizations, or similar organizations.
The position of a physician liaison is relatively new in the medical field, but very important in the changing landscape of medicine. These liaisons are primarily responsible for developing relationships with physicians in order to facilitate beneficial referring practices for both health care companies and patients. Dental assistants assist the dentist and keep patient records. They also set up the patient and dental equipment. Dental hygienists clean teeth and remove stains and deposits from teeth. They look at teeth and gums for signs of disease. Dentists care not only for teeth and gums, but also for the muscles and bones within or supporting the mouth. They do routine procedures such as filling cavities, cleaning teeth and repairing broken ones. Oral surgeons, also referred to oral and maxillofacial surgeons, diagnose and treat diseases, injuries and defects in the mouth, jaws, neck, face and skull regions. CT (computed tomography) technologists are radiologic technicians who specialize in taking cross-sectional x-ray images of the tissues, bones, organs and blood vessels in an area of a patientâs body. The x-rays are used to create a three-dimensional image. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists are specialized medical professionals who operate MRI machinery to create detailed pictures of internal body structures. Nuclear medicine technologists assist physicians and work directly with patients to explain nuclear medicine procedures. Radiation therapists provide radiation therapy to patients as prescribed by a radiologist according to established practices and standards. They review prescription and diagnosis, act as a liaison with physician and supportive care personnel, prepare equipment, such as immobilization, treatment, and protection devices. Radiologic technologists work in medical settings and perform x-rays to assist physicians in diagnosing medical ailments. Ambulance drivers are responsible for transporting patients from an emergency situation to a hospital or other health facility. EMTâs assess injuries, administer emergency medical care, and extricate trapped individuals. Paramedics are highly trained emergency medical technicians (EMT) who are responsible for providing care to accident victims.
Computer and information systems managers design, install and support a hospitalâs computer systems. They are responsible for local area networks, wide-area networks, network segments and Internet and intranet systems. They maintain network hardware and software, analyze problems and monitor networks to ensure they are available to users. Computer network architects design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. They perform network modeling, analysis, and planning and may also design network and computer security measures. Computer support specialists provide technical assistance, support and advice to users within the hospital. They are a troubleshooter who finds problems and provides technical support for hardware, software and systems. They respond to questions from users and run automatic diagnostics programs to resolve problems. Some specialists install, modify, clean and repair computer hardware and software. Computer systems analysts develop, test, expand or modify computer systems to improve efficiency and do new things. When problems occur, they review information and performance indicators to locate problems and correct errors by fixing codes. Computer and information systems managers design, install and support a hospitalâs computer systems. They are responsible for local area networks, wide-area networks, network segments and Internet and intranet systems. They maintain network hardware and software, analyze problems and monitor networks to ensure they are available to users. Health information managers handle patient records, a very important and confidential job. They play a part in the quality of a patientâs health care by organizing the medical data. They are also skilled in health care databases and database systems, as well as medical classification systems. Information security analysts protect the security of the computer network. They plan, implement, upgrade, or monitor security of networks and confidential information. Coders are administrative workers in the health care industry who review patient medical care files and assign codes to each procedure for insurance billing purposes. Medical records technicians and health information technicians compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the health care system. Medical transcriptionists listen to voice recordings that physicians and other health care professionals make and convert them into written reports. They may also review and edit medical documents created using speech recognition technology. Project managers direct the design and development of new application programs for specified projects. They modify and maintain existing applications to meet objectives. Medical assistants perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, and billing and coding information for insurance purposes. Physician assistants provide health care services under a physicianâs supervision. They perform tasks that are usually performed by doctors. They conduct physical exams and provide treatment, and counsel patients. Biomedical engineers work in a relatively new area of health care, one that joins with engineering. They apply engineering principles to solve biological and medical problems. Medical equipment preparers or sterile processing technicians organize and assemble surgical instrument trays and other sterilized supplies. They clean instruments, disinfecting and sterilizing them. They also examine equipment to find leaks, loose parts or other visible signs of wear. Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) plan, direct and coordinate the daily patient care activities in a clinical practice. Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) provide care to sick, injured, recovering or disabled patients and may be supervised by a registered nurse. LPNs administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patientsâ charts. They also observe patients, note changes in a patients conditions and take basic vital signs like blood pressure and temperature . A nurse administrator creates work schedules, gives performance reviews and develops work policies. Other job duties include keeping up established ethical and legal standards for job performance, attending administrative personnel meetings and developing new employee training. Most of the work of a nurse administrator is done in an office and not on the care floor, so an administrator has little or no direct contact with patients. A nurse administrator may work in a hospital, nursing home, private doctorâs office, home health care organization or urgent care facility. Nurse midwives diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process. Midwives may work independently or as part of a health care team. Nurse practitioners diagnose and treat both sudden and long-term conditions. They may do physical exams, physical therapy or order tests and therapies for patients. NPs order, perform or interpret results of blood tests, EKGs and X-rays. Nursing assistants provide basic care to patients under the direction of a nurse. Nursing assistants help patients eat and bathe. Nursing assistants may dress, groom or move patients. Instructors teach about nursing in classrooms and clinical settings. Nursing instructors lead, develop and organize teaching programs. Psychiatric mental health nursing is a specialty within nursing. Psychiatric mental health registered nurses work with individuals, families, groups, and communities, assessing their mental health needs. Registered nurses (R.N.s) care for sick and injured patients. Registered nurses will assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Registered nurses monitor and record patientsâ conditions and report any changes to physicians. Hospital housekeepers are responsible for sustaining a sterile environment by routinely clean patient rooms, nursing units, surgical areas, administrative offices, laboratory areas, waiting areas and public restrooms, as well as launder all hospital linen. Using various cleaning chemicals and disinfectants, housekeepers wipe equipment, clean furniture, polish floors and vacuum carpets. They make beds, empty trash and restock medical supplies. Janitors keep buildings in clean and orderly condition. They perform heavy cleaning duties, such as cleaning floors, shampooing rugs, washing walls and glass, and removing rubbish. A cardiovascular technologist assists with the diagnosis and treatment of heart issues. They conduct tests on pulmonary or cardiovascular systems of patients for diagnostic purposes. Medical equipment repairers test and calibrate equipment and keep records of maintenance, repair and required updates. They take equipment apart, repair and replace any defective parts, and put it back together. Perfusionists assemble, operate and monitor equipment that keeps oxygen-rich blood pumping through the circulatory system. A sterile processing technician operates and maintains steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads and maintenance procedures performed. They clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization, record sterilizer test results, organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filing special requests as needed. Surgical technologists assist surgeons, anesthesiologists, registered nurses (R.N.s) and other surgical personnel with surgical procedures. Athletic trainers help prevent injuries among athletes and help them recover from injuries. They are health care professionals that diagnose and treat injuries caused by stress to the musculoskeletal system. Physical therapist assistants assist the physical therapist in treating patients. They may help them exercise, apply hot or cold packs, or perform special ultrasound or electrical treatments. Physical therapists assess patients and create plans to help them improve their movement, relieve pain and increase strength. They evaluate the effects of treatment and adjust to maximize the benefits. Physical therapists also test the patientâs strength, motor skills and functions, sensory perceptions, respiratory or circulatory efficiency and show patients how to perform the prescribed exercises and review progress.
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Read also: Community Education Programs
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