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INNOVATION IN PRACTICE: MARKING 12 MONTHS OF INNOVATION AT THE MISSOURI INNOVATION CAMPUS By Ruth Dickson The University of Central Missouri has led innovation in Missouri since 1871, and for the past year our Lee’s Summit campus has achieved new heights in innovative education. Since opening in September 2017, The Missouri Innovation Campus
By adopting this innovative approach, UCM enabled students enrolled in this program to graduate with little-to-no cost and enter the workforce prepared to meet the immediate needs of their industries.
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(MIC)—home to UCM-Lee’s Summit and Lee’s Summit R-7 School District—has seen thousands of students pass through its doors to explore the latest in technology and education standards. The MIC story actually began more than 12 months ago. Beginning in 2012 as an approach to providing accelerated learning pathways for high school students with an aptitude for technology, UCM partnered with the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District to develop the MIC Program. This program—now in its sixth year—allows students to complete an associate degree alongside their high school diploma, and then continue to UCM to receive a valuable four-year college degree only two years after they graduate from high school. The MIC program was also
Vol. 18, No. 1 | ucmfoundation.org/magazine
instrumental in reducing the workforce skills gap for technology companies by having students complete three years of paid internships at corporate partners in technology fields, and having these same companies provide direct input into the development of the curriculum. By adopting this innovative approach, UCM enabled students enrolled in this program to graduate with little-to-no cost and enter the workforce prepared to meet the immediate needs of their industries. The program continues to be successful, with its first cohort of graduates having a 100-percent employment rate at graduation. With this extraordinary background of success, The Missouri Innovation Campus has been built upon a platform