When you visit Harper College, you will notice bold new signs to help navigate the campus more easily. The deeper meaning is not lost.

Last year we helped a record 40,000 students discover a better path to tomorrow. Their purposeful strides slowed only by the earthmovers that are helping us build new facilities and even greater dimensions of potential.

After the dust settles, those signs will illuminate the future more vividly than ever before. GoForward is more than a catchphrase at Harper, and this first-ever annual report is testament to a year of considerable momentum. The accomplishments were many and are listed to the left.

Of course, the measure of a community college is perhaps best determined by the ability to take notes, not dictate them. At Harper, we listen carefully to the needs of the community and react swiftly to serve them.

Our agenda includes regular breakfast meetings with local CEOs, so our courses are steeped in real world truth. We maintain close relationships with high schools, so “Generation Y” can discover the true meaning of “Why?” We partner with four-year colleges to make sure our transfer programs are smooth and seamless. And we back every career program with advisory committees made up of professionals in the field to ensure the most progressive perspective.

In the coming year, we’ll be launching a Fast Track program where students can earn an associate degree by going to class one night a week. We’ll be asking the community for input on services they’d like to see: whether we should offer baccalaureate degrees in limited discipline areas, or if we should build residence halls on campus.
These are all good questions, and we’ll keep asking them. But first and foremost, we’ll remain steadfast in our mission to make sure students never have to answer the toughest question of all: “What if I could have done more with my life?”



Dr. Robert L. Breuder
President, Harper College