Accountability has been a developing issue for community colleges for the past several years. Demands that two-year colleges provide evidence of the achievement of their goals has placed a heavy burden on institutional research offices. A number of organizational models have been used by community colleges in carrying out the research function,…

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…

The community college's role in economic development has expanded beyond providing traditional vocational education and job training to include activities as diverse as management and technical assistance for new and small businesses, tech prep programs with high schools, cooperative education programs, partnerships with state agencies, and…

This digest presents highlights from the Winter 1998 New Directions for Community Colleges volume titled "Determining the Economic Benefits of Attending Community College." The passage of the Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (VATEA) in 1990 gave incentives to states to develop accountability measures. Attempts are…