People do not want to know the history, minutiae of policy, or operations, or even the political intrigues of a virtual consortium. People want to know if the consortium has value, whether it can help them, and if it is a threat. In this article, the author focuses on the operating principles and policies that have proven successful in the…

This study inventoried state policies and regulations on and financial support for noncredit occupational programming offered by community colleges. Information collected from state- and community college-level administrators and Web-based searches is organized by a range of issues related to noncredit occupational programming and funding, such as…

This article describes the Applied Engineering Technology (AET) Career and Educational Pathways Program, which helps local manufacturers find quality workers. The program features 32 high schools, three community colleges, and 10 four-year institutions offering an integrated regional system of applied engineering education. The goal is to enroll…

Increasing the participation of minority groups at public colleges and universities is a longstanding goal of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, as first outlined in its 1983 "Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education." The minority groups defined by the plan are:…

This article provides a synopsis of how articulation agreements serve postsecondary education institutions and their constituents, provides an overview on the types of agreements, and discusses some of the issues associated with development of these agreements. The following questions frame the narrative: As community colleges grew in number and…

This paper provides background information for a Commission discussion regarding the challenges that community college districts confront when trying to serve rural and remote communities. The paper describes the dynamics of statewide and regional population growth occurring in California and an overview of program-based funding--the budgetary…

This article describes the experiences of the program coordinator of a new two-year preservation trades program at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. The two-year associate in applied sciences degree offered at Harford Community College (HCC) is a Technical Professional Studies program in Building Preservation and Restoration (BPR).…

This chapter describes how the implementation of the 1996 welfare reform and the 1998 Workforce Investment Acts affected community colleges' willingness and capacity to provide access to postsecondary education and training for Latinos and other low-income populations. (Contains 3 figures.)

To address the teacher shortage, some states have developed special associate's degrees in teacher education. This article explores the prevalence and structure of these specialized associate's degrees and presents a case for their development to smooth the transfer pathway for community college students who wish to become teachers. (Contains 3…

This chapter examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students and recommends steps states can take to strengthen their use of SUR databases to benefit students and communities. (Contains 1 exhibit.)

The Illinois Community College Board provided more than $3.3 million to community colleges during fiscal year 2009 to support local workforce and economic development services through their Business and Industry Centers. The workforce development activities conducted under this grant include customized job training on campus or on-site at a…

Commitment to community is the cornerstone of the community college mission. Community colleges were created to serve the needs of their local communities, and that commitment to community continues to be a very good thing at community colleges throughout the country. But when commitment to community is so strong that colleges become too…

Since President Obama took office, he has repeatedly called for the United States to significantly improve its postsecondary education performance. One goal in particular has gained wide attention: the President's declaration that in an ever more competitive global marketplace, the United States must once again lead the world in college…

Dual credit, the approach by which students receive both high school and college credit for the same course, has received enormous attention in recent years. The original intent of dual credit was to provide more challenging curricula to academically prepared high school students. Over the past three decades, the target recipients of the program…

Faced with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state higher education officials are trying to relieve the burden on the state by redirecting several thousand high school seniors from California's public four-year universities to community colleges for their first two years of school. The California effort emerges…