The CCA Mission

Our Vision

We aspire to be the college where every student succeeds.

Our Mission

Community College of Aurora (CCA) serves our diverse community by providing high-value instruction and support services to advance educational attainment, workforce readiness, and upward socio-economic mobility.

Our Values

Be BRAVE

Belonging. We cultivate an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone feels recognized, valued, and connected, enabling them to thrive.

Respect. We foster an environment valuing individuals, ideas, and diverse perspectives, fostering a positive learning environment, and promoting ethical conduct and inclusivity.

Adaptability. We create a flexible, cyclical, and collaborative approach to teaching, learning, and service, emphasizing agility and continuous improvement to meet evolving needs.

Vision. We envision and plan for the future of education, encouraging innovation and improvement, and inspiring others to achieve a shared outcome.

Equity. We remove barriers and re-design systems to provide access and opportunities to meet individual and collective needs and goals.

Our Pillars of Excellence

Foster a supportive and connected environment to boost student persistence, retention, success, and sense of belonging.

Commitments
- Increase student enrollment and engagement
- Advance equity through expanded access and basic needs supports
- Strengthen cross-departmental collaboration for seamless student support.
Ensure dynamic, real-world-relevant programs that prepare students for academic and workforce success.

Commitments
- Increase professional skills development and access to experiential learning.
- Develop programs of study that map to labor market demand.
- Align placement, curriculum, and tracking with support systems to guide students to success.
Provide opportunities and skills to co-create a rich environment of different cultures, identities, beliefs, and lived experiences for students and employees.

Commitments
- Provide opportunities and skills to co-create a rich environment of different cultures, identities, beliefs, and lived experiences for students and employees.
- Collectively identify and remove barriers to design systems of support that will encourage student and employee success.
- Implement college systems, processes and practices that nurture an intentional environment where contributions of student and employee experiences, opinions, abilities, and identities are respected, valued, and incorporated.
Promote teamwork and innovative solutions to streamline processes and improve efficiency across the College.

Commitments
- Improve transparency through clear processes and communication.
- Enhance operational understanding through internal collaboration.
- Streamline processes to boost efficiency.
Advance industry and community partnerships for civic engagement, economic growth, and regional development.

Commitments
- Foster strategic collaborations by establishing and strengthening partnerships.
- Support community development, workforce readiness, and civic engagement.
- Drive sustainable regional impact by supporting initiatives.

Community College of Aurora Strategic Plan

All students at the Community College of Aurora are expected to develop competence in our institutional outcomes, the 4 Cs, in addition to competence in occupational and discipline knowledge. They develop proficiency in one or more of them during their time at CCA, both inside and outside of the classroom.

View Our Strategic Plan

CCA’s Institutional Outcomes – 4 Cs

All students at CCA are expected to develop competence in our institutional outcomes, the 4 Cs, in addition to competence in occupational and discipline knowledge. The 4 Cs are: Career & Transfer Readiness, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Civic Engagement. These skills are the foundation of students’ education at the Community College of Aurora. Students develop competence in one or more of these skills in all of their experiences at CCA, both inside and outside of the classroom. Download the institutional outcomes sheet HERE.

Career & Transfer Readiness

Career and transfer readiness is the ability to adapt, commit to lifelong learning, and demonstrate knowledge and skills applicable in a global economy for successful transition into the workplace or continued coursework.

Communication

Communication is the ability to express, impart, or exchange feelings, thoughts, opinions, and information.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and evaluate information, evidence, arguments, and theories from multiple perspectives for use in the development of an opinion or conclusion.

Civic Engagement

Civic engagement is the ability to participate in the political, social, cultural, and community life of society with the goal of improving conditions for others and contributing to the public good.