The Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC) represents the fifteen state funded community colleges and their local Boards of Trustees.
MACC is an association whose sole purpose is to support and enhance the well being of community colleges across the state in service to students, community and the Commonwealth. MACC does this through a variety of services.
A 15 member Council of Presidents (Council), that includes the President of each of the fifteen colleges, governs MACC. Chairing of the Council will be rotated annually and selected by the College Presidents. The governance oversight will parallel that of the local BOT oversight of each college. The Council will create the appropriate and needed governance committees, examples of which include Personnel, Finance, Legislative, Labor, Communications, Academic, etc.
MACC staff provides the services and information that support the association’s mission. Staff members are knowledgeable about issues ranging from appropriations and the community college funding formula to governance and educational policy. All staff members are passionate in support and advocacy of the Community College mission(s).
MACC works closely with the state’s key stakeholders including but not limited to the Legislative and Executive branches of Government, the BHE and DHE, the MCCTA, private organizations which include TBF, AIM, and key national partners such as the AACC, AACTA, ATD and the Chair Academy.
The MACC mission is to advocate, communicate and collaborate in order to strengthen community colleges for the benefit of students, communities and The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Office of the General Counsel
The General Counsel’s Office (GCO) is the agency counsel to the Massachusetts Community College System. The General Counsel’s Office provides exclusive legal support and representation to the community colleges’ Boards of Trustees, Presidents and senior administrators in the exercise of their official duties and responsibilities. The office was established in 1980 following the reorganization of public higher education in the Commonwealth, which resulted in the establishment of individual community college Boards of Trustees and a centralized coordinating body, today known as the Board of Higher Education. The General Counsel is authorized to represent the community colleges in all legal matters pursuant to the Special Assistant Attorney General designation issued through the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. The General Counsel’s Office provides system-wide legal services as part of the overall support offered to the Massachusetts Community College’s through the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges.
The General Counsel’s Office advises the community colleges in all areas of higher education law, including state and federal compliance, contract law, student and employee discipline, First Amendment issues, sexual harassment, employment and student discrimination, policy development, information technology, administration of collective bargaining agreements, and labor law. Annually, the office conducts numerous legal seminars and training programs for Board members, system administrators, managers, and staff. The GCO also represents the colleges before a variety of state and federal commissions and agencies including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, The Labor Relations Commission, the American Arbitration Association, the Office for Civil Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and in State Court.