This digest discusses service learning programs on community college campuses. Service learning integrates community service with academic instruction as it focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility. Projects can range from brief, one-time-only experiences to a student commitment of 15 or more hours during a semester.…

Although Total Quality Management (TQM) has been adopted at a number of community colleges in the areas of financial aid, admissions and registration, and staff performance, its use is almost non-existent in the evaluation of classroom teaching. Barriers to its application to the classroom include faculty resistance to the idea of students as…

This digest discusses adult students in community colleges, focusing on their learning expectations and needs. In 1997, nearly a third of community college students were age 30 or older. Adult students often have realistic, practical goals for their education and bring valuable life experience to the community college classroom. However, adults…

This digest draws upon the thirteen published volumes of "Inside English" to offer a summary of practitioners' advice on techniques to improve two-year college students' writing skills. First, the paper summarizes underlying principles of writing instruction, indicating that: (1) usage, formal grammar, phonics, and spelling are best…

Practitioners at all levels of education have begun to recognize that addressing the complex social and environmental problems of the future will require individuals capable of reflective and critical thought. Critical thinking has been defined as utilizing a number of cognitive processes and attitudes that undergird intelligent action in diverse…

Because of their open-door policy, community colleges enroll a significant proportion of the poorly prepared students entering higher education. Many educators feel that colleges operating under open-door policies have a responsibility to identify underprepared students and provide them with the necessary developmental support. Colleges are…

Thoughtful, well-planned and systematic reviews of both instructional and noninstructional programs provide community colleges with a way of determining whether programs are meeting stated objectives and what standards of performance should be maintained. Programs that need improvement or should be eliminated can be identified, and fiscal…

This digest describes faculty and staff development as crucial elements for institutional effectiveness and quality. These programs allow faculty to improve instructional material, keep abreast of new technology and methods, and network with colleagues. When change takes place, perhaps through reorganization, restructuring, or a change in…

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs advocate the incorporation of writing into all classes and all disciplines as a means of helping students to improve their writing skills and to use writing as a learning tool. While most instructors agree that students write poorly, the greatest obstacle to implementing WAC courses on community college…

One of the main obstacles to effective faculty evaluation is the inability to reach consensus on the evaluation's intended purpose. On one hand, faculty evaluation has a formative purpose, supporting faculty development, growth, and self-improvement, while it also has a summative purpose in that it provides data to make personnel decisions on…

This digest provides an overview of forces, both internal and external, driving change on community college campuses. External agents of change are: (1) societal needs and expectations, which are shifting toward multicultural diversity; (2) international competition, requiring that workers be highly skilled in adapting to international cultures;…