Each fall, GC3 hosts the annual Celebration of Teaching to honor the region’s outstanding faculty members. Recipient Darrell Davis, center, associate professor of educational psychology at Miami University, is flanked by David Armstrong, GC3 chairman and president of Thomas More College, and Rose Marie Ward, professor and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Miami University.
If you’re involved with higher education in the region, you’ve probably heard of GC3 (Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection). If not, it’s time to meet one of the area’s most influential organizations.
GC3 is the voice of higher education in Greater Cincinnati, supporting a strong, diverse collective of 18 premier, nonprofit, regionally accredited area colleges and universities. Membership ranges from the small, private Art Academy of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College to Miami University, which provides academic programs to meet everyone’s needs.
GC3 promotes the region as a high-impact learning destination advancing the regional economy, culture and overall quality of life. With a collective workforce of more than 18,000 professionals, GC3 serves more than 138,000 students and delivers more than $2 billion in annual economic impact to the region – in other words, GC3 means a lot to Greater Cincinnati.
Founded in 1974 as the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities, GC3 was more internally focused, primarily benefitting its member institutions. In May 2017, the collaborative relaunched as GC3 with a new mission to promote the region’s vibrant higher education industry’s impact.
“The board of trustees believes by promoting higher education as a regional asset, all of Greater Cincinnati benefits,” says Janet Piccirillo, GC3’s executive director. “Essentially GC3 is a new organization with a more external focus, including higher education being a vital part of the regional ecosystem.”
GC3 advocates for higher education, attracting students to area colleges and universities that provide a high-quality education.
GC3 also works with business and industry leaders to retain talent and bolster workforce development by supporting its members’ efforts to increase student internships and job opportunities.
Qualified candidates filling workforce needs will attract business to the area.
“It is important to make students aware they can get a great education and a great job here,” Piccirillo says. “Plus Greater Cincinnati is a great place to live and raise a family.”
GC3 works with organizations like the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to increase its impact.
Students at GC3 institutions benefit from resources like the Cross-Registration program, which allows degree-seeking students at a GC3 institution to take courses at another member school.
“Cross-Registration not only expands our curriculum beyond our two-year campus,” says Dr. Monica Posey, GC3 vice-chair and president of Cincinnati State. “It also brings students here from other GC3 institutions to experience our unique technologies, such as audio/video production, cyber security, culinary arts and landscape horticulture.”
John Tafaro, president of Chatfield College and a GC3 executive committee member, says the GC3 collaborative allows institutions to pool resources, creating a greater impact together, yet retaining individuality.
“We really have a community-wide educational ecosystem,” Tafaro says. “People don’t have to look at Cincinnati as a place to come to just one of these schools, but they can take classes at any one.”
Additionally, GC3 faculty and staff benefit from broad-ranging professional development opportunities.
For more information on GC3’s member institutions, visit www.gccollegiateconnection.org.
Sara Gadzala
GC3 Members
•Art Academy of Cincinnati http://www.artacademy.edu/
•Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary’s Seminary
•Chatfield College http://www.chatfield.edu/
•Cincinnati Christian University
•Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
•Gateway Community & Technical College https://gateway.kctcs.edu
•God's Bible School & College
•Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science https://www.gscollege.edu/
•Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion http://huc.edu/
•Miami University http://miamioh.edu/
•Mount St. Joseph University
•Northern Kentucky University
•The Christ College of Nursing & Health Sciences https://www.thechristcollege.edu/
•Thomas More College http://www.thomasmore.edu/
•Union Institute & University https://myunion.edu/
•University of Cincinnati
•Wilmington College https://www.wilmington.edu/
•Xavier University http://www.xavier.edu/
.