Here’s the scenario, dear educational colleagues: you are to meet with some newly empowered decision-makers, officials who are smart, curious and uninformed about community colleges. They want your guidance, particularly with all of the discussions at the federal level about enhanced funding for community colleges. They know about your interest in education and your expertise.…
Tag: community colleges
Alumnihood and Community Colleges
My community college and our larger system recently embarked on an effort to strengthen relationships with alumni. It is an exciting endeavor. It is also very interesting effort, especially when we think about alumni organizations in comparison to what four-year institutions usually do. Alumni professionals report that graduates usually join alumni organizations for networking, for…
When Talking About Higher Education, Be Inclusive
More than 19 million people are enrolled in higher education in the US today and more than 16 million of them take classes at the undergraduate level. The popular conception of college is young men and women living in dorms and taking classes full-time. Reality is different. Less than one in five students attend a…
Workplace Skills and Liberal Education – AAC&U Panel
It was my pleasure to present on a panel, “Workplace Skills and Liberal Education: Equity and Access . . . and Quality and Depth” at the national AAC&U conference. Organized by Saul Fisher, Executive Director for Grants and Academic Initiatives and Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mercy College, I also shared the table with…
More Readings For the New Community College President
Did the holidays come and go without you finding the perfect gift for the new community college president on your list? Or the aspiring college president? Rest easy – I have two reading recommendations. Even though full-time administrators rarely curl up with a book, I am confident that these two volumes will be read, studies,…
Recasting Remedial Education
Contemporary discussions about remedial education are often cast in the rhetoric of crisis, high cost, and failure. Remedial education, the courses and programs that help students with the basic mathematics, writing, and reading skills necessary to be college ready, is a long-standing component of many community college students’ lives. In fact, more than half of…
New Normals and Higher Education
What is normal in higher education today? When we think of a college we often picture young people, popular football games, lectures halls and the academic quad. However, traditional students, the 18-21 year-olds who live in dormitories, make up less than 20% of all who study in higher ed. One of the great strengths and…