Although the finalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence won’t be determined until next year, the first rounds have already begun. Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School made the first round by being one of the 150 community colleges selected from 37 of the 50 states. Dr. Duane Dunn, president of SCCC/ATS, said, “The last time this award was given…we made it through the second round.” “It is exciting to be selected in the process because we don’t apply for the recognition,” Dunn said. “Having an external group such as the Aspen Institute recognize our college as one of the best in the nation is very gratifying.” There are three rounds, each round eliminating the community colleges that don’t meet the criteria. The prize is a million dollars in cash, which is divided among the top finalists. Eight other community colleges from Kansas are included in the top 150. They are Colby Community College; Flint Hills Technical College, Emporia; Garden City Community College; Hutchinson Community College; North Central Kansas Technical College, Beloit; Northwest Kansas Technical College, Pratt; and Salina Area Technical College. In round one, a Data Panel is created to work with the National Center for Education Management Systems on selecting 150 public two-year colleges out of a potential 1,000. The Aspen institute website states that these 150 are chosen based on, “(1) student success in persistence, degrees awarded, completion, and transfer; (2) consistent improvement in these areas over time; and (3) equitable outcomes for students of all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.” During the second round, the 150 selected are invited to submit an application describing student success and improvements on campus. “We are now required to submit data to be considered for the second round,” Dunn said. A Finalist Selection Committee, made up of former community college presidents, researchers and policy experts, look over the applications and choose 10 they think are best qualified. The four areas they use to critique are completion outcomes, labor market outcomes, learning outcomes, and equitable outcomes. The 10 finalists will then be announced in the fall of this year. The last round consists of two-day site visits, which are conducted to each of the finalist colleges in order to observe the campus up close and gather additional information through interviews with staff members as well as students. A winner is then selected along with four finalists-with-distinction and publicized in early 2015.