2022-2023 Catalog

Welcome to Colorado Mountain College!

We want you to be successful. So please take the time to learn about the requirements and procedures in this catalog. This is the road map to reaching your goals.

 Academic Calendar 2022-2023

Fall 2022

CMC will be closed for the Winter break starting December 23, 2022, through January 2, 2023.

Spring 2023

Summer 2023

Mission, Vision, Values and Guiding Principles

Vision: Our desired future

We aspire to be the most inclusive and innovative student-centered college in the nation, elevating the economic, social, cultural and environmental vitality of our beautiful Rocky Mountain communities.

Mission: Why we exist, what we do, and what we offer

Colorado Mountain College offers a dynamic, innovative, and high-quality teaching and learning experience serving a diverse population in a student-centered, inclusive and personalized learning environment. Committed to both affordable and accessible education, CMC offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate programs and lifelong learning opportunities helping all students meet their individual educational goals. 

Values: The basis for ethical action

We believe higher education and lifelong learning provide a vital and necessary foundation for an egalitarian society.

We care about each other and treat everyone with civility, dignity and respect.

We encourage open and honest communication and honor all ideas and opinions.

We embrace diversity in its many forms and work actively to create an inclusive and welcoming college community.

We act with integrity to build trust in our personal and professional relationships.

Guiding Principles: Decision-making and resource allocation

We collaborate with one another and with external partners.

We apply the principles of sustainability to foster social equity, economic vitality and environmental health.

We strive for excellence and innovation in all we do.

We create a positive working environment and a stimulating and enjoyable teaching and learning experience.

We hold ourselves responsible and accountable for our actions.

We maintain the public trust through responsible stewardship and fiscal transparency. 

We meet challenges with thoughtful deliberation and purposeful action.

General Education Philosophy

A general education benefits students by encouraging them to acquire intellectual tools, knowledge and creative capabilities necessary to study the world as it is, as it has been understood and as it might become. General Education prepares students for fulfilling lives as educated persons, and effective contributors to a democratic society.

To develop breadth of knowledge, general education courses familiarize students with methods of inquiry across various academic disciplines, as well as prepare students for employment. Effective general education helps students act ethically and responsibly, and develop habits of critical thinking, intellectual sophistication, and an orientation to lifelong learning and investigation.

Understanding Student Learning through Assessment

Student learning is more than just grades. It is a deeper dive into evaluating what our students are able to master in terms of the cognitive (knowing), psychomotor (doing), and affective (expressing) domains throughout all of our academic courses and co-curricular student experiences. This requires an intentional and comprehensive methodology to assess how our students perform against the various outcomes that we wish them to achieve. This methodology in an academic environment is generally referred to as “Assessment”, and is an institution-wide initiative that encompasses all activities, academic and co-curricular, that involve our students.

Assessment is the right thing to do for our students. We need to understand how our students learn and be able to modify our teaching methods and our curriculum to ensure that they receive the best instruction we can offer to meet their individual educational goals. We define our educational quality by how well our students learn and understand that the public’s expectation for higher education is that we are accountable to ensure that students learn what they need to know to attain personal success and fulfill their public responsibilities in a global and diverse society.

CMC Institutional Student Learning Outcomes

Colorado Mountain College has articulated eight Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (along with their associated sub-components), which graduates of any educational program at CMC will be able to demonstrate. For every program of study at CMC, students will achieve each of these outcomes by acceptably performing one or more sub-component (bulleted items) of each outcome below.

Critical and Creative Thinking:

• Apply concepts and/or practices to new situations.
• Synthesize concepts/information to explain or develop theories or inform practices.
• Analyze ideas and/or practices within their social and ecological contexts.
• Interpret texts and cultural artifacts within relevant social and ecological contexts.
• Understand how individuals and social systems operate within particular contexts.

Communication and Expression:

• Comprehend and interpret oral, textual and media communications.
• Develop and support ideas, orally and in writing.
• Interpret and respond appropriately when communicating in multiple contexts.
• Demonstrate effective communication with diverse audiences.
• Communicate using the conventions of one’s chosen profession.

Information Literacy and Research Ethics:

• Locate appropriate resources to satisfy information needs.
• Evaluate information for credibility, reliability and authority.
• Adhere to ethical and legal standards of information access, creation and use.
• Appropriately cite sources of information.
• Engage ethically with research subjects.

Responsible Application of Learning:

• Apply ethical or sustainability principles to thinking and/or action.
• Responsibly apply technical or professional competencies relevant to one’s career path.
• Engage with others to support common goals.
• Apply social responsibility to address ethical issues.

Career, Professional and Technical Skills:

• Develop employment seeking skills.
• Display professionalism in diverse settings.
• Demonstrate understanding and use of technologies appropriate to the field of study.
• Apply relevant legal standards within the scope of practice.

Recognizing and Supporting Diversity:

• Identify intercultural experience from the perspectives of self and more than one worldview, including the elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy or beliefs and practices.
• Describe marginalization both as a process and a condition drawing from multiple viewpoints and perspectives. 
• Explain the complexities of multiple theories of race, class, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexuality, nationality and/or religion. 
• Analyze how differing levels of power and privilege shape life experiences in relation to belonging, exclusion, community engagement, and full participation in society and its services. 
• Develop and implement skills that contribute to diverse, equitable and inclusive environments. 

Collaboration and Teamwork:

• Collaborate inclusively with class/team members.
• Plan and accomplish collective goals.
• Document and communicate collaborative/group processes and progress.
• Fulfill commitments to the group.

Computation and Quantitative Reasoning:

• Solve computational problems.
• Use quantitative and computational processes to solve problems and create solutions.
• Interpret and apply quantitative information relevant to one’s area of study.
• Describe the value and limitations of quantitative methods and approaches to understanding and addressing problems.

Accreditation

Colorado Mountain College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The Commission can be reached at:

230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604-1411
Telephone: 1(800) 621-7440
Email: info@hlcommission.org

Please see the Higher Learning Commission and Colorado Department of Higher Education complaint procedure web pages for more information regarding student complaints.   

In November 2019, the Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission continued the accreditation of Colorado Mountain College with the next Reaffirmation of Accreditation to take place in 2023-24.

For a list of program-specific accreditations and approvals, please view our Accreditation Table.

Notice of Non-Discrimination

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Colorado Mountain College does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family and genetic information, in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and as provided in other applicable statutes and College policies. The College prohibits sexual and gender-based harassment, including sexual assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence.

The college has established procedures for the filing and disposition of student and employee discrimination complaints. The procedures are available by selecting the following links:

6-N President’s Procedure Resolving Discrimination Complaints for discrimination not involving Sexual Misconduct
3.12.1 Sexual Misconduct Procedure for discrimination involving Sexual Misconduct

Student Inquiries

The following person has been designated to serve as the overall coordinator of student inquiries under Title IX, the Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and other College policies prohibiting discrimination:

Lisa Doak
Title IX Coordinator
ldoak@coloradomtn.edu
(970) 947-8351
802 Grand Avenue
Glenwood Springs, Colorado 81601

Students also may contact the following persons who have been designated as Deputy Title IX Coordinators:

Aspen and Carbondale campuses
K Cesark, Associate Dean of Academic & Student Services, kcesark@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 236-0446 extension 2446

Breckenridge and Dillon campuses
Nicole Fazande Larson, Associate Dean of Academic & Student Services, nfazande@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 968-5805 extension 2805

Vail Valley at Edwards campus
Marc Brennan, Vice President & Campus Dean, mabrennan@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 569-2913

Leadville and Salida campuses
Evan Weatherbie, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, eweatherbie@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 486-4290

Rifle Campus
Chip Thomas, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, rmthomas@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 625-6955

Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs campuses
Lisa Runck, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, lrunck@coloradomtn.edu,(970) 947-8212

Steamboat Springs campus
Carolyn Lawrence, Associate Dean for Student Affairs cmlawrence@coloradomtn.edu, (970) 870-4463

Employee Inquiries

The following person has been designated to handle employee inquiries regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and other employee complaints of unlawful discrimination other than Title IX matters:

Angela Wurtsmith
Director of Human Resources
awurtsmith@coloradomtn.edu
(970) 947-8311
802 Grand Avenue
Glenwood Springs, Colorado 81601

Employee inquiries under Title IX should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator listed under Student Inquiries above.

Other Resources 

Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building, 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204-3582. Telephone: (303) 844-5695, or email OCR@ed.gov. 

Colorado Department of Higher Education, 1600 Broadway, Suite 2200, Denver, CO 80202. Telephone: (303) 862-3001.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Denver Field Office, 950 17th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202. Telephone 1(800) 669-4000.

Colorado Civil Rights Division, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1050, Denver, Colorado 80202. Telephone (303) 894-2997, or email dora_ccrd@state.co.us.

Contact Us

Current information, services and contact information are available on the Colorado Mountain College website. 

We offer online registration and payment processing via the website. Class listings and times are available in our class schedules.

Call our Central Services Office at (970) 947-8300 or 1(800) 621-8559.

Colorado Mountain College - (USPS 023-404) is a published quarterly during the months of August, December, April and June with multiple editions of each publication (except June). Publications are produced by campus and central staff of Colorado Mountain College at 802 Grand Avenue, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. Periodical postage rates paid at Glenwood Springs, CO and additional mailing offices.